Soldiers of Fortune
"If you build it..."
Leon knelt down and inspected the ground. The dirt was still spongy and showed very little signs of use. Footprints still marked the ground but they appeared to be old and worn. He made out several tracks of four digit footprints. The large toes of the foot prints were farther spaced out from the other three digits as if someone had cut out a toe on a terran foot.
"How does it look soldier?" asked Grace as she bent over to see what he saw.
"Some Na'vi tracks," said Leon. "Not anything recent though. A few viperwolves were through here recently but I don't think this is their territory."
Grace scooped up a handful of dirt in her hand. She brought it up to her eyes before dropping it on the ground. "There's a lot of moss in the soil. Fertile soil good, decomposition, nice texture," she said wiping her hands. "Looks fantastic."
Leon stared up at her blankly. "Looks like dirt to me," said Leon who didn't know what she was talking about.
But she ignored him and waved to the rest of the team. "This is it," she called out to them who nodded their head in acknowledgment. She turned back to the clearing in the trees. "This is it."
"You think this school your's is going to work?" asked Leon who had his own doubts about this.
"Of course it will work!" said Grace who began to motion to the trees. "The Na'vi have asked us to teach them our language. Do you have any idea how phenomenal that step is?"
Leon remained silent. He knew she was going to tell him no matter what answer he gave her.
"It means that they want to learn," said Grace. "We finally have something that we can offer them. Knowledge."
"I wouldn't getting my hopes up just yet," said Leon who watched several crews unload the building materials.
"Why the flux do we have to use wood?" asked a construction worker as he dropped lumber on the ground.
"This has to be natural," said Grace. "They aren't metallurgists. They are naturalists."
"How do you know that they are going to come here?" complained another worker. "We don't even know where their village is."
"If you build it they will come," said someone from behind them. Leon spun around to see an avatar standing behind him.
"I know you," said Leon.
"Ah so you do remember," said the avatar smiling at me. "Falls from trees."
"Stop calling me that," said Leon pointing a finger up at him threateningly. "I know what you're saying."
"Knock it off Dan," snapped Grace as she watched the construction team begin their work.
"Sorry," apologized Dan who knelt down and held out a large hand. "I'm Dan Hartwell." Leon reluctantly accepted the handshake but regretted it after as Dan ended up shaking his whole arm nearly dislocating it.
It only took a week to build the school from top to bottom. For Leon it felt awkward walking into the school for the first time. Everything looked pretty normal except everything looks like it was purchased from a novelty joke store as everything was oversized. He picked up a large piece of chalk that was about the size of a cucumber.
"So what do you think?" asked Grace as she stepped into the room. "Cozy isn't it."
"I don't think you made it big enough," said Leon putting the chalk down.
"It is a kind of small isn't it," said Grace looking around the room.
"This is too small?" asked Leon. "I think my voice has an echo in here."
"I hope they come…" said Grace who began to worry if they would show up.
"Grace, you built a 'small' building in the middle of their forest," said Leon. "Of course they are going to show."
"I suppose you're right," said Grace with a shrug. She placed a beat up avatar sized back pack on the table and began to removed its contents. Alphabet blocks, books, clay, paints and papers.
"Wait a minute," said Leon as he looked on. "You were planning this weren't you."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Grace.
"Who the hell takes oversized children's toys on a trip across the galaxy?" asked Leon as he picked up a block that was three times bigger than what was normal.
"Someone who's prepared," said Grace smartly.
"Prepared for what?" asked Leon.
"Everything," said Grace checking through the contents again.
"You're gonna make them read Dr. Seuss?" asked Leon going through the stack of jumbo sized books.
"They're classics," said Grace snatching them back.
"I don't think they'll understand 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'" said Leon.
"I didn't bring that one idiot," said Grace who smacked him on the head with the books.
"How the hell are you going to explain 'Green Eggs and Ham' to them?" asked Leon. "Or 'Cat in the Hat' or 'Horton Hears a Who'?"
"Will you shut up," laughed Grace as Leon continued to go through the list of books. "I can tell someone's been keeping up with his reading."
Leon smirked. "Shaddap!"
Unbeknownst to the people inside the school na'vi were silently moving about the trees. It wouldn't be long before curiosity brought them to the school at night and then the very next day waiting for their teacher to show up.