First Time in the Clan
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.
As the Tsahik had made her judgement that we could stay with the Omaticaya I felt immense relief that the avatars would be in safe hands. I looked at Ninat, trying to read her facial expression. She beckoned me to follow her, so I did. We ended up at a hollow within the Kelutral. "Here," she said, handing me a necklace-top thing and a loincloth.
"Do I really have to wear this?" I asked.
"If you are going to join us you must at least look like us," Ninat answered.
As soon as I was in the traditional dress of the Na'vi Ninat ran her hands through my hair roughly.
"What are you doing?" I asked, stepping away from her.
"Your hair is styled in such a strange way," she stated, "There is not enough for me to braid."
"That's okay," I said, "My position is very low, it wouldn't be right for me to decorate myself in a way not befitting my position."
"For one of the sky people you are smart," Ninat said appreciatively, "But with your hair styled in such a manner, you stand out like...as you sky people say a sore thumb."
"Ah."
Jake was feeling very annoyed, Neytiri had made him change into traditional dress and the loincloth-thing was going up his butt! He tried to follow after Neytiri through the crowd, however unlike Neytiri he had accidentally stepped on a few tails. "Well don't stand up or anything," he muttered darkly.
He sat down next to Neytiri and looked up to find a Na'vi man sitting next to Sutey or whatever his name was, glaring at him.
"Hey there," he greeted, only to have the aforementioned Na'vi glare coldly at him.
As the prayer of thanks to Eywa was finished Ninat handed a leaf with food placed on it to Kiseki. "Thank you," she said; gratefully taking the leaf, she was very hungry after all. She ate some of what appeared to be some kind of meat on the leaf. "This is really good," she said after a mouthful.
"It is teylu," Ninat said, "I think in your language it means larvae grub."
"Still yummy," she said, digging in to the meal.
"Hey," a voice said.
Kiseki looked up at Jake, her cheeks full of food. He chuckled before taking a seat next to her.
"Look," he said, "I just wanted to apologize. You were right about the bio-lumi-whatever you were talking about."
Kiseki swallowed then said, "I'm sorry too. I should've translated science to baby."
"Hey!" he exclaimed, eliciting a few glares from some nearby Na'vi.
"Sorry," he said, before turning back to face Kiseki, "They don't like us do they."
"And this is the part where I say no shit isn't it?" she scowled at him.
Jake rolled his eyes, "I'm gonna go to sleep soon, do you want me to pass anything on to Grace and the others?"
"Just tell her where we are," she answered, "And tell her I'm going to explore for a bit before I unlink."
As Jake followed Neytiri up to the upper branches of the Kelutral he glanced back at Kiseki, he was approached by Quaritch and asked to pass any useful information gathered about the Na'vi to him. And now that he was among them he could gather some good intel. However he wasn't the only one, Kiseki was there too. 'I just hope she doesn't find out,' he thought, climbing up the tree.
Kiseki put the leaf away and walked towards the base of the Kelutral, examining the inner structure. 'I wonder if we ever had anything like this on earth?' she wondered.
"What are you doing?" Ninat asked, "It will be time to sleep soon."
"I'm just looking around the Home Tree," she answered, "I've never seen anything like it before."
"You do not have trees on your world?" Ninat asked, "How do you live?"
"I don't see it as living," Kiseki answered, "Our planet is dying, we exist, but we are not living."
Ninat seemed to be raising an eyebrow, "I don't understand how that works."
"You don't have to," Kiseki said, "Well, it's time for me to let this body rest."
Ninat nodded, "Follow me, I will take you to the hammocks."
Kiseki lay down in her hammock, this forest was strange, but there was a beauty as well, a beauty that both fascinated and frightened her. She looked up at the canopy of the tree above her. 'I really want to dive into this whole world,' she thought, 'But this is a dream after all.'
I woke up in the capsule again, partially blinded by light as the lid was opened. Grace stood above me. "I saw small waves of activity on your brain scan and figured that you were having trouble sleeping," she explained, "So I unlinked you from here."
"Thanks," I said, "I don't think I was ever going to get to sleep."
"You want to go eat something?" she asked.
I shook my head, "Actually, I'm going to do my video log. I can't believe I've forgotten it."
"Okay then."
As she left I turned the camera on. "Okay, this camera logs in the time, so I don't have to say that. However it is pretty late," I said, "I'm at the link room. This is my first log, so consider this catch-up. Today we went to the forest with the hopes that either Norm or I would be taken in by the Omaticaya. However instead it was Jake and I who were taken in. We got chased by a thanator and found by Neytiri. Now if you don't know already Neytiri is like a princess, so to speak, of the Omaticaya. I wonder how Norm feels about all this. This was his biggest dream after all. Or maybe I should be a bit happy, with 90% nudity a must to blend in it would be awkward, him being an ex and all. I chuckled at the thought. "Nah, it's terrible for me to feel that way. He must be gutted that Jake, with no knowledge or appreciation for Na'vi culture was the one who got taken in, and not him. Man, I'm going off topic here. I think there's an irony in being here. The irony is that humans have to study to learn how to manage the environment without harming it and the Na'vi, they don't have to study at all. Managing this environment just comes naturally to them. I wonder why we went a different way."
Norm picked at his breakfast, in all honesty he wasn't really hungry. When Jake told them he and Kiseki were taken in by the Omaticaya he almost broke out into a cold sweat. How could Jake have been taken in? It was his dream to learn more from the Na'vi themselves, but it was Jake and Kiseki that were learning, not him. All of the other avatar drivers, even Maria, were crowded around Jake, wondering how he had done it. He was surprised that Kiseki was nowhere to be seen. He looked up to find Jake basking in the attention that he was being given. 'Smug bastard,' he thought angrily, taking his plate and coffee and heading straight to the link room, hoping that no one would rub it in that he was stuck here like them. As soon as he got there he found Kiseki, she was fast asleep in front of the video log camera.
"Hey," he said, gently shaking her awake.
"Norm," she yawned out, stretching, "What time is it?"
"Pretty early," he answered, "You want some breakfast."
"Nah, that's your food," she said, standing up, "I'll just go down to the cafeteria."
"Actually by the time you get to the cafeteria it'll be time to link. Village life starts early," Norm muttered, "Here." He held out the plate of toast.
"Thank you," she said, taking a piece and chewing slowly.
"What's it like?" Norm asked.
"It's different," she answered, "And difficult. They don't trust us. So I guess Jake and I have to earn their trust."
"I can understand why they wouldn't trust Jake," Norm said, "But why you?"
Kiseki shook her head, "It's not just me and Jake. It's all of us. They don't trust humans."
Norm sighed, "It's understandable. What with the Sec-ops shooting at them with no thought of the consequences."
There was chatter as Jake and Grace came in.
"Can you help me link up?" Kiseki asked, hiding the partially eaten toast before climbing into the link capsule.
She opened her eyes to the green foliage of the Kelutral. Sitting up she found Ninat standing before her with a small, brown flower in her hand. "I have figured out what I could do with your hair," she said triumphantly.
"You didn't have to come up with anything," Kiseki protested as Ninat made two small braids in her hair, pinning them to the back of Kiseki's head with the flower.
"You will blend in better," Ninat answered, ignoring Kiseki's protests.
Later on they went down to the base of the Kelutral to meet with various other home-tenders and children who were going out to collect fruits for breakfast. Kiseki held the basket as Ninat filled it with fruits. "We will be collecting fruits for the hunters," Ninat said, then held out to fruits to Kiseki. Both were of the same size and colour, however one had dark green leaves on the stem attached to it and the other had light green leaves. "We can tell when a fruit is ready for picking by the colour of the leaves on the stem," Ninat explained, handing both fruits to Kiseki as Kiseki had put the basket down, "Try them and see if you can tell me which one is ripe."
She bit into the fruit with light green leaves, only to spit out the mouthful. The fruit was as sour as a lemon.
Ninat chuckled, "Balance the basket on your head and eat the other fruit as we walk. We will not have time to eat when we are done. So we eat while we work."
Kiseki asked after eating part of the other fruit, "Why don't the hunters collect their own fruit?"
"They already risk their lives so the clan will have meat to eat and to protect us as well," Ninat answered.
The two of them walked deeper into the forest. "You are also a hunter aren't you?" Kiseki asked, "The Tsahik had said you would teach me to be a hunter as well. Why do you still pick fruits like the home-tenders?"
Ninat shrugged, "I trained to become a hunter. However I found myself more suited to the path of a home-tender and healer."
Kiseki rolled her eyes, "I myself would prefer to have the freedom of being a hunter."
"Well to each their own," Ninat said, throwing a few more fruits into the basket, "Come. We will deliver the fruit now."
The two of them arrived at the Kelutral just as the hunters were rising from their hammocks. "I see you Ninat," one of them greeted, ignoring Kiseki. His hair was longer than hers and was braided with bright colourful beads serving for decoration. Kiseki held her head high, not allowing herself to be intimidated by their glares at her.
"Did the dreamwalker pick any of the fruit?" a familiar voice asked angrily.
Kiseki glanced up to find Tsu'tey glaring at her. She looked directly into his slanted eyes as she answered, "Ninat is the one who picked the fruit. All I did was carry the basket."
"You dare look straight at me," he snarled.
"Because I am answering the question you asked," she answered coolly, turning away.
Tsu'tey reached out and grabbed her arm, "I am not finished with you."
"I answered your question, what more is there for us to talk about?" she asked, steadily meeting his gaze.
Tsu'tey was surprised that the female dreamwalker had the gall to talk to him in that cool-headed manner. Unlike other women who were too shy to look into his eyes, she was not afraid to meet his gaze. Her own round, brown-gold eyes stared at him with coldness in their glare.
"You are right," he said disgruntled, "You have no position in the clan, so I cannot challenge you."
"Then wait," she smirked, "When I pass the initiation I will accept whatever challenge you throw before me."
The hunters laughed at the dreamwalker's audacity. Ninat's eyes widened at Kiseki's attitude, pulling her away from the still laughing hunters.
As soon as they were at some distance away from the hunters Ninat scolded Kiseki, "What were you thinking? Challenging Tsu'tey like that!"
"I am determined to prove myself to your people," Kiseki answered sullenly; "I do not wish to be looked down on any more."
"Even so, but there is a reason that he will be next Olo'eyktan," Ninat said, "He is the best fighter and hunter in the clan. Even if you do pass the initiation he has more experience than you and you will most likely lose."
"Well not accepting his challenge makes my chances of beating him zero, so I won't know until I try," Kiseki smirked.
"You are crazy," Ninat said, whacking her on the head.
Meanwhile, later on that morning, Jake was at the direhorse training field with Neytiri. She was explaining the basics of something called tsaheylu. She had told him it was the bond between rider and animal. Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance; basically all he had to do was plug his braid into the animal's receptor-thing, it seemed simple enough.
"Okay, I got this," he said, mounting the direhorse, or as Neytiri had called it, pa'li. Neytiri nodded at him as he took his braid and connected it to the pa'li's receptor-thing. Both the pa'li and Jake's eyes widened at the odd sensation. The pa'li bucked up, almost causing Jake to fall off.
"Good," Neytiri said, hoping to calm the pa'li down, then she looked up at Jake, "That is tsaheylu, the bond. Feel her, feel her heartbeat, her breath. Feel her strong legs. Tell her what to do inside. For now you tell her what to do."
"Forward," Jake commanded.
The pa'li raced forward so fast Jake flew off it. He landed face first in the mud, his mouth was filled with dirt and horse shit. Neytiri couldn't help but laugh at how silly the dreamwalker looked. Jake stood up, spitting dirt out of his mouth. He glanced over to the still giggling princess, he had to admit, she looked pretty. 'Whoa,' he thought with a start, 'I did not just think she was pretty...is pretty, dammit Jake don't let your thoughts go that way.'
The thundering of hoof-beats brought their attention to the hunting party that was on their way out to the forest.
"I see you Tsu'tey," Neytiri greeted.
"I see you Neytiri," he answered, then glared at Jake, "You don't belong here. You should go away."
"Nah, you'd miss me," Jake smirked, "I knew you could speak English."
Tsu'tey turned to Neytiri, "He cannot learn our ways, a rock sees more."
Neytiri rolled her eyes and slapped Tsu'tey's pa'li to remind him of his task at hand, to hunt for meat for the clan.
Tsu'tey smirked slightly before riding off with the rest of the hunters.
Kiseki could feel her whole body ache as she was climbing up the tree. She had trained at the avatar compound of course, but this was on a whole other level. Ninat had been helping her increase her endurance in the forest. They had run, jumped and climbed. "Hurry up," Ninat called out from below, "It will be time for the midday meal soon!"
Kiseki was still at the top of the tree, at the corner of her eye she saw a long vine that was at least three-quarters the length of the tree. 'Here goes nothing,' she thought, jumping out to the vine and sliding down. She soon reached near the end of the vine and jumped to a nearby branch, however it was a weak branch that cracked and broke as soon as the impact occurred. "AAAAARGH!" she screamed as she fell down to the ground, landing on her stomach with the branch on top of her.
Ninat strolled over, "Are you always this reckless?"
"Only in this body," Kiseki answered, standing up, brushing herself off, she was lucky that the avatar had the same bone make up as the Na'vi, with the same naturally occurring carbon fibres.
Kiseki almost choked with laughter as she saw Jake covered with mud.
"Don't say anything," Jake scowled.
Kiseki chuckled, "At least you didn't get rope burn, jump on an unstable branch and fall four storeys to the ground."
"Say what?" Jake gaped.
"Endurance training with Ninat," she explained.
Jake paled, "Neytiri's taking me endurance training after lunch."
"Good luck jarhead."
"Hey!"
I had later gone pa'li training with Ninat. By the end of it I was even more mud-coated than Jake was. Not to mention the pa'li took great enjoyment in head-butting me, go figure. The hunting party returned to observe much to my "delight".
"You will have to do better than that," one of them sneered.
I was beginning to regret my cockiness earlier.
Later on it was time for dinner and there was space around me as I hadn't had the time to wash myself. Jake came over and took one whiff at me before running for the spot next to Neytiri. 'Do I really smell that bad?' I wondered, holding up my arm to take a smell...gosh, I stank! "Would you mind if I sat next to you?" an unfamiliar voice asked me.
I looked up to find a female Na'vi, and judging by the way her hair was styled and by the decoration on her body I figured that she was a hunter. She had eyes that were the shape of teardrops.
"The seat?" she asked.
"Go ahead," I said, gesturing to the area around me.
"My name is Peyral," she introduced herself.
"I see you Peyral," I said.
"I see you Kisekistewart," she replied.
"Just Kiseki is fine," I corrected her.
She looked at me, slightly confused, and then smiled, "Kiseki."
I took two leaves filled with food and handed one to her.
"Thank you," she said.
After a few mouthfuls of food I asked, "Why sit with me?"
"This morning, I saw you face off against our male warriors," she said, "In particular against Tsu'tey."
I felt my face flush in embarrassment, "I was out of line."
Peyral laughed, "I am not reprimanding you. I admire that reckless courage of yours. It makes me wonder if Ninat is suited to teach you."
"Why?" she asked.
"When you were talking to Tsu'tey, the look in your eyes was that of a fighter," she answered, "And I am willing to teach you."
"May I think about it first?" I asked.
"Of course."
That night I flopped onto my hammock, now clean, but my muscles still ached. Peyral's offer was the last thing on my mind as I unlinked.
A/N: Yeah, I am so sorry. I am a slow typer, mainly because it's the holidays and I keep on gettin distracted. A BIG thank you to all those who subscribed and faved. However I would really like some feedback, like, what do you think is bad/good with the story? Stuff like that, I would really appreciate it. :D