Jake reentered his Avatar just in time to feel Neytiri's sharp rap to his forehead.
"Hey, ow!" He sat up quickly and backed to the edge of his hammock. "What was that for?"
"You sleep too much," Neytiri said. She was hanging one-armed from a branch above.
"Yeah, I bet you'd be surprised how little I get," he grunted, absently studying her. No obvious weapons. In the shafts of sunlight streaming through the branches, her limited clothing was a lot more apparent. Right. No obvious weapons.
He reached a hand out to Neytiri and smiled. "Well? You gonna help me up?" He waggled his fingers a little.
Neytiri snorted in disgust and grabbed his forearm with a loud smack. She easily pulled herself up with her other arm, and Jake's grin faded as she walked along the length of the branch, holding him out over empty space. Jake looked down at his kicking feet, beneath which was a lot of potentially sharp foliage, the great spiraling path, and at the very bottom in the common area, the skull of some giant monster, where he had been presented to the People last night.
"Whoa, whoa," he said, reaching out to her. "Ow! Okay, I'm sorry, I'll get onto the damn branch myself. Wait!" he corrected himself frantically. "Next time, I mean. This time, you put me on the branch, right?" After a few very long seconds, she did.
Jake backed up a safe distance, rubbing his aching shoulder. He noticed a dark blue-purple bruise already spreading on his wrist cyan skin.
"Come," Neytiri snapped, bringing his attention back up. She whipped around in a rustle of beads. Jake followed, but he made sure to keep a lot of space between them. It wasn't a bad view, anyway.
The crossed a few small wooden platforms linked by bridges made of something that looked like bamboo, and that transitioned so smoothly to the living tree itself that Jake didn't even notice. What he did notice was that the other Omaticaya that they met on their winding descent gave Neytiri a lot of room, and one older woman with a baby strapped to her chest smiled at Jake almost – ruefully?
At the bottom of the path, Mo'at was waiting for them.
"My daughter, please go and bring some water to me," she said, cutting across Neytiri's half-uttered greeting.
Neytiri glared at her mother for a very brief moment, and then turned and stalked out of the inner ring. Avatar and Tsahik watched her go, and Jake turned around only when he heard the rustle of Mo'at's beaded hair.
"Hello, Jakesully," she said, raising her eyebrows slightly.
"Um, good morning." Jake cleared his throat and glanced around, but the real show was up, where the massive vault of branches arched over them, and sunlight winked through as it was obscured and revealed by rustling leaves, swinging bridges, lean blue figures.
"You are ready to begin learning about the People?"
"What? Oh, yeah. I mean, yes. I'm ready."
Mo'at smiled in that fierce Na'vi way, and placed a dry hand on his sore shoulder, and Jake winced slightly. Mo'at snorted softly like a cat, glancing down at his wrist.
"I see it has begun already, then," she said. She held Jake's eyes. "Neytiri is a strong child, Jakesully. You will not hurt her. In the beginning, she will be hard with you. Be hard as well. She is a warrior, the same as Tsu'Tey and the other men. Perhaps, you two can find a balance. It will make things better for you both."
Jake heard a snarl behind him in the distance, and even through the slight commotion that followed he immediately recognized Neytiri's strong voice. Mo'at touched his shoulder again. "It would be best for us both, Jakesully, if you did not mention this conversation to my daughter." She gave the same rueful smile the woman on the bridge had done. Jake had had no idea that Na'vi faces could be so expressive.
To her mother Neytiri handed a strange looking leaf/cup, then grabbed Jake's arm and yanked it, jerking her chin for him to follow her back outside the way she had come.
Jake massaged his twice-ill-used arm as he trailed behind Neytiri in the wide path she cut through the other Na'vi. He figured Na'vi mating rituals were probably non existent. If any male was still attracted to a Na'vi woman after a few weeks of this, it had to be true love. He'd have to ask Grace about it after his Avatar went to sleep.
"Skxawng! Come," Neytiri snapped, turning to glare at him as he lagged too far behind.
He wondered if he'd wake up in the link unit after being knocked unconscious.