Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the terms and subjects in the Avatar world, all rights go to James Cameron (The Genius). This is my first Fanfiction ever so bear with me. A big shout out to Florence and the Machine for giving me inspiration, love you Miss Welch
as always reviews are most welcome.
Italicised words indicate characters speaking in Na'vi or onomatopoeia
Chapter Eight
Ngay'swizav sat with his mother as she bathed Anna's empty body. Lying on the ground beneath the tree of souls, tendrils attached themselves to the Avatars body. The minute veins pulsated as his mother began communing with Eywa her queue attached to a vine. Mo'at had claimed that as soon as Anna returned to the body they would be open to her thoughts and memories. Ngay'swizav didn't like the thought of evading her mind but this was about the Omatikaya, his needs were insignificant when compared to the whole. Besides she had betrayed them and they needed to know the truth. Brushing her hair from her eyes, Ngay'swizav watched as they opened her pupils large as they adjusted to the dark. Quickly he attached his queue to the tree.
I should have told them the truth, mother told me to but I didn't listen. Ngay'swizav, Omatikaya, please don't hate me. If only I had asked dad more questions, if only I had…who am I? Where is this? Ngay'swizav pulled back at the sound of a disjointed voice. There had been no malice in Anna's thoughts or actions, she had been telling the truth.
"Ngay'swizav." Anna called struggling as the tendrils clung to her body. Ngay'swizav stood up from the dais. He could hear the call of the hunters as they mounted their Ikran. He could feel his mothers disapproving glare but didn't dare look back lest she force him to talk to Anna. Tsyal greeted him efficiently, rubbing her nose against his hand.
Ngay'swizav hated Anna for what she had withheld from the Omatikaya and hated her even more for making him care for her. Life had been so simple without her but in just one day his life had been altered forever. Perhaps he shouldn't have told his mother about the sign from Eywa. Tsyal bucked beneath him probably having heard his thoughts and her actions showed her annoyance.
"You are right Tsyal, Eywa sent Anna." Ngay'swizav just wished he knew why.
High above Hometree Tsu'tey and Ngay'swizav circled the skies riding along the currents, listening for the sound of the metal birds. Grace had warned him about the weapons the Tawtute wielded. After seeing the destruction of the tree of voices, Ngay'swizav didn't doubt that the Tawtute were dangerous.
"What did you find when you looted her thoughts?" Tsu'tey asked from his ikran. Ngay'swizav growled at his friend's persistence. He had already told Tsu'tey that it was none of his business. He didn't want to share the intimate details of Anna's mind with him. Though her immediate thoughts had been about Hometree, Ngay'swizav had also felt her attraction and love for him. It should not have surprised him since that was what he always felt when he made love to her. Somehow, when embraced by the tree of souls, Ngay'swizav found validity to what he already knew.
"Why are we talking about that demon. Stupid, fat thing. I hope you have given me permission to get rid of her." Beyral sneered from her mount. Ngay'swizav winced, thinking about how angry he had been with Anna. He had promised the huntress that she could do as she pleased the dreamwalker.
"You cannot go back on your word." Beyral reminded him although he already knew that. It would be a show of deception and cowardice if he retracted the pact.
"Beyral, how do expect Ngay'swizav to give up his mate?" Tsu'tey said. Ngay'swizav looked at Tsu'tey sharply not appreciating being called out so publicly.
He didn't want to lose Anna, but the Omatikaya would never expect a traitor. He could either live the rest of his days without a clan, or live amongst his family without his mate. The Omatikaya where his kin through blood and spirit. He had never spent a day without them and the thought of having to do so chilled him to the bone.
"Ngay'swizav, they are here." One of the hunters called. Ngay'swizav steadied his ikran as black demons dotted the sky.
"Look at how few there are." Beyral laughed her companions joining in nervously. True it was a small formation but Ngay'swizav didn't think it wasn't going to be that simple.
Anna walked in the golden field with the expanse of clear skies and a never ending vista. The woman in blue was again walking towards her and now that she was acquainted with the dream Anna knew what to expect.
"I know you are not my mother." She said as the woman continued to approach her.
"I am she, yet more." The woman said though her lips remained firmly shut. Anna shut her eyes and willed herself to wake up, the woman had never spoken to her before. A cool caress kissed her skin and when Anna opened her eyes it was to the face of the blue dressed woman. Her features were blurred as though someone had taken a paint brush to her face and created the effect.
"Who are you?" Anna asked as the woman continued to stroke her face. Pausing she cocked her head as if thrown by the question.
"Your mother, grandmother, living spirit. I am Gaia and I am Eywa and I will be again." Anna felt her legs give way, only the woman's touch keeping her rooted. Anna shut her eyes as she felt scorching lips touch hers. The apparition expelled air into Anna's lungs as if storing them for safekeeping.
"A temporary gift." Said the woman and this time the sky did not break. The earth remained intact and suddenly she was back. Blinking rapidly Mo'at's face came into focus. The older woman looked tired and hurt. Anna regretted having been the one to cause it.
"You are awake, yes." Anna nodded in response almost wishing she hadn't as her head began to pound. Mo'at helped her up, gently tugging at the veins. All around her the Na'vi prayed, their queues lighting the forest floor.
"I am sorry Mo'at I never meant to hurt anyone." Anna said bowing to the matriarch. To her surprise Mo'at knelt before her hugging her close.
"Only Eywa can forgive." Mo'at said, her blunt words softened by her smile. Anna sniffed feeling rivulets of tears running down her cheeks. Mo'at patted her on the shoulder sympathetically taking her arm as they walked down from the dais.
"Grace is dying." Anna said pleadingly. Hoping that Mo'at would be able to do something. They walked further away from the tree of souls, the distraught cries of Na'vi fading into the distance. Anna tried to wait patiently for Mo'at to reply but every second that went by in silence was a second against Grace's survival.
"Take me to her." Mo'at finally said, much to Anna's relief. Anna called for Lissa and the blue and white ikran landed dutifully before her. As she mounted her ikran Anna offered Mo'at her hand.
"Silly child." Mo'at laughed good naturedly as a deep green ikran hovered in the sky before settling on the ground. It bumped Mo'at in the chest like a horse and began to squawk as though berating Mo'at for some past misdemeanour.
"Yes, yes well we are flying now." Mo'at climbed onto the ikran with a grace that Ngay'swizav must have adopted and Anna wondered how Mo'at must have been in her younger years. With a silent command Lissa's wings beat the air waiting as Mo'at' ikran did the same. Anna urged Lissa faster weaving through the sky as her anxiety was projected to her ikran. Beside her Anna saw the smooth glides of Mo'at's ikran and tried to imitate her movements.
Soon Anna was able to concentrate on something other than Grace's mortal wound as she copied Mo'at. The wind blew their beads and they chimed in unison as if they were part of the same song. Mo'at began to hum a tune Anna had never heard before. The low tones seemed to vibrate through the air and Anna found the notes wrapping themselves around her heart and mind. They harmonised as the song became more complex and Anna found herself adding different pitches to a song she had never heard. Before long they landed in the clearing where the mobile was stationed. The song still in her mind Anna raced to the door while Mo'at followed her in a more sedated pace.
"Anna." Norman met her halfway his exo-pack fogged. Anna chuckled as she saw how small Norm was as a human, when he was the one usually towering over her. "Anna it's too late." Norm's words washed over her, freezing her to the core. Anna made to open the door but Norm's tiny hand stopped her.
"You can't open the door, the effects would make you pass out." Norm said.
Anna nodded numbly trying to seek Grace's body through the large glass. Feeling something warm on her tail she realised that Norman was trying to comfort her, but the tears fell none the less. Grace had been her friend and confident ever since Anna had first arrived on Pandora. She had been the one to teach her Na'vi and help her get used to her Avatar. Now Grace was dead and it was all her fault. Perhaps, Anna thought, if she hadn't insisted on having an Avatar of her own Grace would be running about collecting samples. The Omatikaya would not have been betrayed and Norman would still be talking to her.
"Anna, come and eat with me. Then we will figure out how to drive the sky people away." Anna smiled at Mo'at's offer and nodded her head. She would do anything to take her mind off Grace's death even if it meant planning an impossible feat.
Norman watched as Anna and Mo'at sat on the ground eating a variety of food from the nearby tress. In the waning light Norman could make out the bio luminous spots on Anna's face and body, shining like fireflies resting upon her skin. Trudy coughed loudly and Norman was torn from his reverie. The young pilot held out a mug filled with steaming reformed coffee. Norm nodded in thanks and sipped the foul liquid.
"You could always tell her how you feel." Trudy said sitting beside him on the low bunker.
"She already has someone." Norman explained. Trudy laughed laying back on the bed her feet swinging of the side.
"Yeah and in case you've forgotten he's Na'vi. Anna can't be an Avatar forever." Norman smiled for Trudy's sake but when she left he frowned. He didn't want to share Anna with anyone, he doubted if even as a human she would forget about Ngay'swizav. After all the years of friendship he had always thought that Anna would turn to him when she was ready for a sexual relationship. Norm's hands shook with anger as he realised that all Anna had ever seen him as was a brother. All those touches and kisses had been purely platonic on her end, yet she couldn't be so naïve as to think how she touched him and spoke to him came across as nonsexual.
"Administrator Selfridge." Norman said into the comm.-link waiting for personnel to put him through.
"Selfridge." Norman cringed as he heard the obnoxious voice.
"I have the co-ordinates to where Anna Quaritch is." Norman said. There was a long pause before Selfridge spoke again.
"Anna Quaritch is expendable." Selfridge said.
"I also have the matriarch and spiritual leader of the Omatikaya. If you use her as a hostage imagine what the natives could do for you." Norman smiled as the silence grew. Selfridge was obviously tempted by the idea.
"Norman Spellman, thank you for that. Although I already knew Anna was there. You should be hearing my men in 3…2…1… I'll make sure Anna knows who is responsible." Shouts came from outside and Norman quickly put on his exo-pack. Men in Ampsuits brandished their canons at the two Na'vi. Anna was trying to block Mo'at from them but there were too many.
"Shit!" Trudy hissed from behind him a standard issue revolver in her hand.
"You can't go out there." Norm said pulling her back "They'll kill you." As soon as the words left his mouth the mobile's door was ripped off its hinges. Armed men rushed in seizing Norman and Trudy.
"Get off me!" Trudy shrieked. One of the mercenaries twisted her wrist snapping the bone in the process. To Norman's surprise Trudy did nothing but hiss as the gun clattered to the floor. Norman struggled against his captors as he heard screams from outside. Anna lay slumped on the floor, her breathing erratic as her hand cradled her abdomen. Mo'at screamed in Na'vi but he couldn't make out her words.
The screech of the psiolink being broken clawed against Norman's eardrums. The unit hissed as Anna's prone body was dragged out of the chamber. The armed men quickly fitted an exo-pack to Anna's face as she quickly came awake.
"Let go." Anna screamed sluggishly fighting against them but to no avail. She clawed and bit writing against them.
"Anna stay calm." Norman pleaded just as she was knocked out by the blunt end of a gun. Norman swore as they were all pulled out of the mobile his eyes never leaving the Avatar on the ground.
"What do we do with it?" One of the men asked.
"Over the edge." The man holding Anna said motioning to the edge of the cliff.
"You can't do that!" Norman yelled over Mo'at's shrieks and three men picked up her body.
"No! There is life in that one. Life!" Mo'at screeched fighting against the Ampsuit blood flowing from where the metallic hand bit into her flesh.
Norm's eyes widened as Mo'at's words hit him. Anna's Avatar was pregnant. The empty blue shell was swung over the side of the cliff and Norman didn't hear anything after that, but he knew that even a Na'vi could not survive a fall like that. Mo'at's shrill cries filled the night sky and Norman cried inside. He had just betrayed his best friend because she didn't return his feelings. In the end he had condemned the Omatikaya.
"Sir there's an incoming call." Quaritch watched as the missiles sailed through the air hitting the thick roots of the tree.
"Quaritch, Sel…has… Anna." Static impaired the message but Quaritch knew exactly what it meant. Selfridge had double crossed him. Quaritch had known that Selfridge had an eye for his daughter and the only way to stop him from taking full advantage was to follow his orders without fail. Quaritch knew Selfridge's sexual appetite after he had been forced to cover up the disappearance of one of the nurses on the base. Quaritch growled as more arrows nicked the glass of the Dragon gunship. Selfridge may own the operation but Quaritch was a god amongst the marines. If Selfridge wanted a war there'd be one just not with the Na'vi.
"We're going back." Quaritch said. Though the pilot raised an eyebrow in surprise yet turned the aircraft heading back towards Hell's Gate.
Ngay'swizav choked as ash filled his nostrils and throat, his eyes tearing as the flames from Hometree whipped the sky. Moans and cries of pain riddled his senses as he crawled through the smoke. In the distance he heard cheering and through the veil of black he could see the monsters retreating. Hometree was still intact, they had been victorious.
"Ngay'swizav." The voice called eerily through the darkness. Ngay'swizav staggered to his feet, swaying slightly as he regained his equilibrium. Again he heard his name and began making his way towards the sound, sifting through the ash for the owner of the voice.
"Ngay'swizav." He stopped near a prone figure bleeding into the grass. Ngay'swizav trembled as his father rested against a splintered tree a large sliver of bark protruding from his chest.
"Sempul." Ngay'swizav sank to the ground and flinched as he felt how cold his father's skin was. He was going to die.
"You must lead the Omatikaya." Eytukan wheezed placing his bow in Ngay'swizav's hand. Ngay'swizav clutched his father's hand rocking back and forth at the enormity of the situation. His father was gone and he was now Olo'eyktan. After a while Ngay'swizav left his father's body and walked towards the costal line, there his brethren celebrated their victory.
"We are not that easily beaten!" Beyral yelled, the hunters cheering at her words. Ngay'swizav growled as she continued her ostentatious rambling. Tsu'tey was the first to notice his friend's arrival his smile slipping into a frown. The other hunters soon followed suit, falling into silence as they noticed the bow in his hands.
"Eytukan?" Ngay'swizav shook his head brushing at his eyes to stop the tears from falling. He knew that he was the next Olo'eyktan but he never imagined it would be today. His father had been the one to teach him how to hunt, to be one with his Ikran and showed him how care for The People. It was a great responsibility and Ngay'swizav only hoped that he would do the role justice.
"Let us return to the tree of souls. We must tell The People that all is well." Ngay'swizav said. The hunters touched their heads and called there Ikran.
Tsu'tey flew at his side sending him the occasional inquiring look but Ngay'swizav ignored him. Now was not the time to voice his insecurities, his chest felt tight due to a multitude of reasons. His father was dead and his mother had to be told. Though he imagined she already knew since they had been mated for many years. It was common for mated pairs to feel and sense their mate even without tsahaylu. A sharp pain blinded Ngay'swizav, Tsyal shrieked and plummeted a few feet. Ngay'swizav rubbed his temple, Tsyal levelled out returning to the group of other hunters.
"What is it Ngay'swizav?" Tsu'tey asked. Ngay'swizav shrugged his shoulders though he had an inkling that Anna was in trouble.
When they reached the tree of souls Mo'at and Anna was nowhere to be seen. Ngay'swizav growled, his tail slashing the air. His chest grew tight with each breath and he quickly excused himself. The tree of souls was where Eywa was most felt and Ngay'swizav found himself kneeling before it, his hand holding his queue towards one of the hanging vines.
"Please tell me where she is." Ngay'swizav whispered creating tsahaylu. His pupils widened as light assailed his senses. He felt like he was free falling through memories and voices, blurs of lights shimmered before him until he found himself floating through a shining abyss. A ghostly figure stood in the midst of nothingness. Its head was bowed as it hand cupped its large stomach.
"Anna?" He called. His voice sounding like a death knell in the silence and suddenly he was thrown back through the vocal discord. When he opened his eyes his queue fell from the vein, tsahaylu broken.
"Ngay'swizav." Ngay'swizav felt Tsu'tey shake his shoulder which slumped dejectedly.
"Yes Tsu'tey?" Ngay'swizav asked wearily.
"It is uniltìrantokx." Ngay'swizav's ear perked, a dreamwalker was here. Tsu'tey led the way to where the ikran roosted. Ngay'swizav hissed at them as it was the quickest way to get through the throng. Anna's ikran remained laying on the ground as the Na'vi on her back slid to the floor. It was Anna, the empty shell of her Na'vi. Ngay'swizav rushed to the body and lifted it into his arms.
"What are you doing?" Tsu'tey hissed as Ngay'swizav joined his queue to Anna's. She was not in there but something was. He could hear and feel a rapid heartbeat. Gently he lifted Anna into his arms keeping the tsahaylu intact. Calling Tsyal he carried Anna onto the ikran. Tsyal flapped her wings adjusting to the extra weight. Without a word they took off.
Tsu'tey cursed as the flapping of wings sent dirt and leaves flying into his face. What was Ngay'swizav up to now? Tsu'tey felt like leaving his friend to his own devices, after all Ngay'swizav had not told him his plans, he had barely said anything to him.
"Are you just going to stand there?" Tsu'tey jumped as he realised Beyral was mounted on her ikran. He hadn't even noticed her approach. Tsu'tey chuckled as she took after Ngay'swizav then called his Ikran in quick pursuit.
Na'vi translation
uniltìrantokx- dream walker
ikran- mountain banshee
sempul-father
tsahaylu- neurological link
