Now we'll find out more about this strange girl.
DISCLAIMER: The story and characters of the original Avatar belong to James Cameron. I take artistic license only for the characters and events that I have created for this story. I receive no monetary gains from this story.
Chapter Three: Questions and Answers
Twilight had started to settle by the time Ma'kel returned to the Hometree. A quick look around revealed no one outside of the tree. Probably all sitting down to feast on today's hunt, he thought. That's good; I can slip Meira inside without much fuss. Said girl had probably been thinking along the same lines, as she pulled up her hood to hide her face and hair. Peeking around a tree root, he could see no one around the direhorse pen. Moving quietly, he directed his direhorse into the pen. He disconnected his braid and slid to the ground. He heard Meira gasp as he turned to her. Following her gaze, he saw what had startled her. There behind him was his father, with a stern expression on his face. Should have known this was coming, Ma'kel thought as he faced his father. "Ma'kel, didn't I tell you to be back before dark?" Jake asked. The boy nodded. "So why are you only getting back when the feast is almost over?" his father demanded. Ma'kel opened his mouth to speak, but Meira beat him to it. "I am to blame for that. I was being chased by a rather persistent pack of nantang, and Ma'kel rescued me from harm without hesitation. If you must punish someone, then punish me for the stupidity of catching the nantang's attention."
Ma'kel looked over his shoulder. Meira had slid down from the direhorse by herself and was now limping towards him and his father. She was only a few steps away from him when her legs gave way and she fell forward. Ma'kel closed the distance and caught her before she hit the ground. "Thank you," she whispered. "Are you all right?" he asked. "Just tired," she answered, "All that running wore me out more than I thought." Ma'kel nodded. Draping one of her arms behind his neck, he then wrapped his own arm around her waist for support as he helped her to stand up again. In doing so, his nose picked up the scent of her hair. She smelled of fragrant flowers combined with subtle tones of fresh fruit. She smells as good as she looks, Ma'kel thought.
The sound of his father's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Ma'kel, who is this girl?" his father asked. "Her name is Meira," Ma'kel answered. "I saw her being chased by nantang while I was scouting for new hunting grounds. I helped her escape, but found that she had been hurt in the chase. I brought her with me to see if Mother could help her." Jake Sully raised an eyebrow at this. "Why does she hide inside that garment?" he inquired. This time Meira answered, her voice tinged with aggravation. "Normally I'd tell you to keep those kinds of questions to yourself, Jake Sully," she retorted. "However, right now I'm exhausted and in too much pain to debate about your manners." Both males looked at her: Ma'kel in shock because Meira had just spoken to his father like she was his equal; Jake puzzled because there was something vaguely familiar about the way this girl spoke.
Unnerved by their stares, Meira cleared her throat. "If you two are done gaping at me like codfish," both men closed their mouths, "perhaps we should get going?" Jake nodded and walked over to help her and Ma'kel. Together, the two males were able to get her to Jake and Neytiri's alcove without being noticed. Jake left to get Neytiri, while Ma'kel tried to make Meira comfortable. As soon as his father left, he turned to her and whispered, "What is that thing next to your back?" He had felt something strange when he grabbed her waist. "Perhaps when we are alone," she whispered back, glancing at the entrance. Less than a moment later, Jake returned with his mate Neytiri, followed by Mo'at, her mother. Even though the elder Na'vi had abdicated the role of Tsahik to her daughter, many in the tribe still looked to her for wisdom and guidance.
The three of them sat down in front of Ma'kel and Meira. Neytiri spoke first. "So you are the stranger that my son rescued. Why do you not show us your face?" The girl turned her head ever so slightly towards the entrance and replied, "Because that is best done away from the eyes of others." Neytiri nodded once, then looked at her mate and son. The two males rose and each walked to one side of the entrance. A rustling sound was heard, and then vines appeared from both sides, coming together in the center to form a living green curtain. "When the vines are left to hang, no one may enter this place without making known their intentions," Neytiri explained. Once the males were seated, Meira took a deep breath, brought her hands up to her head, and pulled back the hood. She had closed her eyes, so she did not see their shocked expressions; she only heard their gasps. Once she thought that their initial shock was over, she slowly opened her eyes, revealing her yellow irises. Then she slid a hand back and lifted the rest of the hair out of the hood, releasing the braid.
The reaction was mixed. Neytiri and Mo'at were completely shocked. Jake looked like he was studying her. Ma'kel kept a straight face, since he already knew her appearance. Becoming uncomfortable with their looks, Meira tried to scoot back a little. Unfortunately, having momentarily forgotten about her wounds, the moment she put her weight on her feet, pain shot up through both legs, causing her to wince. Her movements brought everyone's mind back to the matter at hand. "You are hurt?" Neytiri asked. "My feet," Meira nodded, pulling the cloak up a little to reveal the bloody appendages. "Kawng! How did this happen?!" Neytiri demanded, moving forward to tend to the girl. "It was my own fault," Meira answered sheepishly. "Normally I can move through the forest without trouble, but for the last three days I've had the feeling that I'm being watched. Today I was going out to gather fruit for my meal tonight, and I thought I heard someone or something following me. I kept looking over my shoulder instead of looking where I was going, and, like a complete skxawng, I tripped over a tree root and stumbled into a pack of nantang. I took off running as fast as I could, with the pack right behind me. I tried to lose them, but these nantang just would not give up. I kept running until my feet bled and my body began to tire. The scent of blood made the pack bold, and one nantang tried to pounce on me, causing me to scream in shock."
Meira paused, took a deep breath, then, glancing towards Ma'kel, continued her story. "Ma'kel appeared shortly after that. I guess he heard my scream. He rode up beside me on his pa'li and pulled me to safety. He managed to lose the pack, and then he slowed down to give me a chance to calm myself. Something startled his mount and I was knocked to the ground, which revealed my face." She then looked down at the floor. "Despite that, Ma'kel still asked if I was all right. When he saw that I was injured, he offered to bring me here so that I could have my wounds treated. I accepted, and we arrived just after the sun had set. There was no one in sight, so we tried to come in quietly, but Jake was waiting in the shadows for Ma'kel. As for the rest, I'm sure Jake has already told you what happened up until he and Ma'kel brought me to this alcove," she finished.
Meira looked at the others. Neytiri had continued to tend to the girl's feet, but she knew she was listening by the occasional twitch of her ears. Mo'at and Jake had listened intently, and were now deep in thought. Ma'kel had not moved, except to nod once when she mentioned his involvement. It was Jake who finally broke the silence. "What are you Meira, and where do you come from?" he asked. Meira sighed; she'd known this was coming. Settling into a more comfortable position, she took a deep breath and began to tell her story.
"I presume you all know how the dreamwalkers were created by mixing Na'vi blood with Tawtute blood." They all nodded. "What you probably don't know is that before the dreamwalkers, the Tawtute tried a somewhat different approach. What they did was they attempted to find out if the Na'vi and Tawtute were compatible with each other by trying to unnaturally conceive a new life from a Na'vi male and a Tawtute female. Simply put, they wanted to see if Na'vi and Tawtute could create children together." A collective gasp rose from her audience; Meira continued. "While I don't know all the details," she added, "what I do know is that out of nine attempts, three for each Tawtute skin color, only those from pale-skinned Tawtute were conceived successfully. The result was three half-blood children: two males and one female. I am that female."
"So that's why you have the traits of both races," Jake sighed. "What happened after conception?" "We were kept inside the unnatural wombs until they thought we had grown enough to survive outside of the wombs," Meira replied. "After our so-called 'births', we were each raised by our respective Tawtute mothers. My mother was Dr. Grace Augustine." Jake's eyes went wide; he had been friends with Grace when he was in the Avatar project. He knew she had started the project, but she had never said anything about being a mother. "I knew your mother," he said. "I was with her when she… went to meet Eywa. She never said a single word about this to me." Meira shifted her gaze downward. "There's a reason why she couldn't tell you," she replied. "After we were old enough to do things for ourselves, like walk and eat, the RDA ordered that we be put through a series of tests to see how we would react to different situations. Sometimes we had to find food or water without any aid; other times we had to make our way through different kinds of land within a set amount of time, using only a knife, less than a meal's worth of food, and less than a day's worth of water. If we failed, we would be cast out of Hell's Gate and left to fend for ourselves in the forest."
Meira paused and looked at her audience. Neytiri and Mo'at both wore horrified expressions. Jake's face was one of cold rage kept under control by years of training and experience. Ma'kel's face wore a neutral expression, but she could tell that he was mulling over her words. She took another deep breath and continued her story. "To ensure that didn't happen, my brothers and I secretly worked together to make sure we passed each test." She saw Jake raise an eyebrow. "Though we were not related by blood, the three of us treated each other like siblings. Jason was the oldest; he had red hair and an uncanny skill for building things. Michael was next; he had black hair and a rare way with animals. I was born last; I found that I could somehow sense the intent of those around me, be they Tawtute, Na'vi or beast. That's why I came here with Ma'kel, because I sensed that his intentions were true." She glanced at Ma'kel; he had a sheepish grin on his face. She flashed him a brief smile before continuing. "Between the three of us, we were able to pass every test. All was well, until that final day…"
Sorry this took so long! Between dentist appointments and catching up on missed class lectures, I've been really busy. Sorry to end this chapter with a cliffhanger, but I hoped it answered some of your questions about Meira. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can.