Own Avatar, I do not, think I did? Fool, you are.
Chapter 30: Demon's Roar
Date: 1445, 25th, 2170
Location: Omaticaya kelutral, Pandora, Alpha Centauri A System
The elderly Tsahik was clutching the sides of the Samson as it slowly began to raise up off the ground.
It, thankfully, had not taken very long to convince her, she knew as well as they that it was the only way to get to the Tree of Souls before the battle, but that certainly did not mean that she enjoyed the idea of being surrounded by metal, cut-off from Eywa's embrace. Convincing the rest of the clan, though, had been much harder. It had taken a lot of talking on Mo'at's part to sway them away from the idea of war with the tawtute, and Max was pretty sure that the younger ones were still unconvinced. The elders had been convinced though, most of them had fought as the previous battle or seen its aftermath, and the idea of so much death had never sat very well with them, only loyalty to Eywa had made them agree to the idea of an attack.
Convincing them to let Mo'at ride in the Samson had taken an equally long period of time. No one had wanted her to do it, and they had ended up wasting a valuable hour arguing with the clan about it. Eventually, Katrina, sick of the debate, started up the Samsons rotors and announced that they were leaving, with or without the tribe's blessing on the matter. Mo'at, though unhappy at the resolution, had told her people to be quiet and remain within the hometree until she returned, and then forced herself to carefully clamber into the machine amongst shouts of protest.
Now, as they began to accelerate and move over the jungle, it looked like she was having second thoughts.
"Mo'at," he called across to her, "You don't need to cling that hard."
"Tawtute are insane." she hissed back at him, not releasing her grip, "How can one fly in something that does not live? This is unnatural."
"Not alive?" Katrina's indignant voice came over the comm system, "I'll have you know that she very much has a personality, and it's the personality of a cantankerous, elderly bitch!"
The tsahik glared at the front of the Samson for a moment before turning and staring at the jungle flicking by below.
"Better get comfortable," Norm advised from his seat next to Max, "It's going to be a while before we get there."
The majority of the flight passed in silence, Mo'at visibly trying to relax and failing miserably at it, he and Norm were trying not to smile too much as they watched, and John kept his eyes glued to the sky around them, a small grin on his face.
They were an hour into the flight, about a third of the way there, when Mo'at spoke again, "Why do tawtute refer to their machines as they would to people?"
They blinked at her, and she continued, "She called this machine a 'she', why?"
He blinked a bit more before answering, "Same reason some Na'vi name their bows. You use a tool long enough, that tool becomes important to you, important enough that you genuinely care about it, even if it isn't 'alive' in the traditional sense."
The Na'vi woman stared at him with her penetrating gaze for a long moment before nodding slowly.
Norm spoke quietly, "You really don't know that much about humans, do you?"
It was Mo'at's turn to blink and stare at Norm, "What do you mean?"
John spoke, still watching the sky, "You, the Omaticaya, the Na'vi in general, you know almost nothing about the tawtute. They know almost everything there is to know about the people, are trying to learn all they can about Eywa and how the balance functions. But you know next to nothing about tawtute culture, how they live, how their technology works, what drives them, what the Earth is like."
He winced softly at his friend's tone, being reminded that John was not a human anymore, and he could never be, and that, no matter how much he buried the pain, it still hurt him.
Mo'at, in turn, was staring at John's back, frowning lightly, as he continued, "Most humans aren't that dissimilar to the Na'vi, at least, in basic personality. Both sides have people who are smart, who are clever, who are idiots, who are funny. But humans lack something you take for granted." he turned and looked at her, "We don't have a mother, we don't have an Eywa to watch over us and guide us. We're alone, all of us. You go to Eywa when you die, join your voice with hers. Humans? Thousands of theories, ideas, but they just don't know what happens when they die, and it scares the hell out of them."
They sat in silence for a while.
"Jake'sully said that you killed your mother, long ago, when we talked on a similar idea." Mo'at responded, finally.
"That's.. true. Sort of." Max said, turning his eyes to the jungle below. "If you mean the green, the life, of our world, yes. We've destroyed most of that. But we never had a mother goddess in the sense of Eywa. Humans have always been alone in our own minds, in our spirits. It's why we're generally so social, always talking with each other, because we want to be reassured that we're not alone." he winced, "It's also why our weapons are so powerful. Generally, most humans loathe fighting, so we try to make our weapons so terrible that no one will want to fight. It... it only works sometimes."
Another long silence passed between them.
"To live without Tsaheylu, to be unable to hear Eywa.. to connect to your mates.." she murmured softly, "That is the cause of your insanity, is it not? To live like that.. is a fate far worse than death to the people. Tsu'tey.. was mad with grief and pain from the mere hours he was forced to endure like that before his spirit was set free. Yet you tawtute, live every day of your lives like that."
She turned and looked at Max, and he noticed her grip was no longer white-knuckled, though she still held onto the handholds. "You say that they are here to heal their home? How does mining the gray-rocks help?"
Max sighed, "It's a very long story, and much of it revolves around technology."
A small smile graced her wrinkled visage, "As Jake'sully would say, 'We have time'."
Date: 16:30, 25th, 2170
Location: Tree of Souls, Pandora, Alpha Centauri A System
The Samson slowly touched down just outside of the main basin around the tree. They had spent the remainder of the trip just talking, mostly about what the Earth was like, both now and before. Mo'at had not quite grasped exactly how the unobtanium was being used, but she had accepted their explanations, and then proceeded to ask question after question about what manner of living creatures their home had.
The idea of the majority of the creatures being so much smaller than Pandoran life had thrown her off a bit, and the idea that there was nothing the size of an ikran that was capable of flight had surprised her.
It had been.. an interesting flight. He knew that she'd largely been asking to remain polite, at least at first, to attempt to show that they were still friends to the Omaticaya. The questions on the trees and animals of the Earth had actually managed to engage her interest though.
His small smile broke off slowly as he gazed at the Vitraya Ramunong, its long branches swaying slowly in the wind. Convincing Mo'at had been the easy part. Convincing Eywa herself.. was liable to prove more difficult, especially as Mo'at would be the only capable of speaking to the goddess. And even then, he was not quite sure how literal the idea of 'speaking' was. From what she had told him, it was more akin to images and feelings than actual words.
The Tsahik carefully moved out of the Samson, and sighed in happiness as her feet touched the ground once more. John and Norm clambered out behind her, both staring at the lightly glowing tree.
"Do you think you can convince her?" he moved up next to Mo'at as he asked the question.
Her small smile of contentment at being out of the Samson faded. "I do not know, Max'patel. The great mother has already chosen the path of her will and of her children. It will be difficult to convince her to swerve from that course."
Max blew out his breath, his exopack fogging slightly. "All right, let's get started then."
They slowly made their way down towards the tree, Katrina jogging to join up after shutting down the Samson.
"Remain here," Mo'at spoke quietly, just before the base of the tree.
They all nodded, remaining standing as Mo'at knelt before the tree and began to murmur quietly in prayer, bringing her queue up to the dangling branch before her. Her body visibly shook slightly as she connected directly to Eywa, but she did not break her slow chant.
Standing quietly, waiting, they watched her.
After nearly an hour, they sat down, slowly looking around the basin.
At the two hour mark, Katrina and Norm headed back up to the Samson to grab their packs so they could eat.
It was not until nearly three hours later, in the dead of night, that Mo'at, voice hoarse, slowly detached from the tree, staggered down towards them, and sat heavily. John was by her side in a moment, pressing a water skin into her hands.
After slowly drinking, the tsahik handed the water back, staring blankly into the distance.
"Tsahik," he murmured quietly, "Did it work? Did you convince her?
A single tear sliding down her face was the only answer he needed.
Next up is Chapter 31: Might of God
A bit shorter than intended, mostly because I wrote most of Chapter 31 before realizing that for everything to remain in chronological order, and to make sense, this had to happen before the next chapter does...but the next part of Max' PoV had to wait until 32. Basically my outline was completely off and I had to change it a lot in the last few days. So here ya go, another round of Patel and company.
Glad to hear that everyone is still enjoying my work, and that more people are reading it. Should have the next chapter up tonight after I get home from work.
Keep reviewing please!