XXV: Captive Honour (XIV)
Jake knew there was no other way, knew they had been pushing a fight all along, just waiting for any excuse. That was their way, conflict, battle. And if he couldn't avoid it, he'd face it head on. The question was, would they be fair about it? Jake remembered their strongly ingrained honor code but the King and Queen had not even introduced themselves by name, perhaps they were above the code? Whatever would come would come, it was pointless to worry about it, they were in the thick of it now. All this passed through Jake's mind as the King sat, bold on his bones, and watched them from his lofty position in the wake of Jake's challenge. Fist to his chin, brow furrowed, Jake was reminded of King Osric from the old barbarian movies. Then he leaned forward, "Good." his voice boomed again. Slowly the guards came around the torches, Jake and Neytiri came together expecting to fight all of them at once, but they stopped beside the flames. One by one, each lifted his own torch, raising it high, they then dipped each to the ground extinguishing them in their own pots of water.
The snap and hiss of dieing flame echoed harshly as the room was engulfed in darkness. Jake's eyes quickly adapted to his own lights and he made sure to keep Neytiri close to him, the now invisible Na'vi could surround them and attack all at once any moment. He needn't have worried though, standing, like some kind of bold star on the horizon, the King's lights shone bright and unmasked. He was outlined like some holy figure in a halo, he held high his hands above him like one proclaiming an edict. "Now, brave Omaticaya, you shall truly earn the honor the stories of your deeds and names issue before you- Now you shall survive as the Nekxtskxe, by proving yourself in combat!" As the king roared the last word, the room shook, but what was more… it came alive and burned. The ash grey moss they had been stepping on all this time, lived and it glowed as nearly all foliage did on Pandora. Yet this moss glowed bright, vivid orange, like flames. Suddenly the room was engulfed- the floors, walls, and ceiling- the mossy fire covered every inch, bathing all in its bright burning light, like ground zero at sunrise.
What was more, the grey streaks hiding the Na'vi during the day and in the darkness, now burned as all the moss did- illuminating them with brilliant designs of tribal flames and strange patterns of intricate artwork, further still, these markings not only made them appear more fierce, but served to camouflage them against the constant burning light. They blended in perfectly, and Jake had trouble distinguishing them from the room, though they were only a few feet from him. However… the worst realization was to come… for it struck Jake that if the moss had come alive like all Pandoran foliage, then night had fallen and the clock was now ticking it's last moments. Jake set his jaw, the spectacle and beauty falling flat and grey as it once was, he had no time for wonder. "Alright, who's first?" Jake said, unimpressed.
Once more the King stepped down from his throne, powerful legs pounding out his foot falls. "So eager for blood Toruk Maktou? Good, Good. You will need that spirit, but your battle will not take place here. It shall be where all contests prevail, in the arena."
Figures, Jake should have known a people so engrained with conflict would have an arena where they lived. The King motioned pleasantly before him, and Jake turned to see the guards had created a path for them to follow leading out of the throne room. Jake looked to Neytiri, she looked to him with determined coolness; Jake hoped he wouldn't have to watch her fight. Jake then turned to see Paul being lead with the Queen's hand in the small of his back, again, after them. The King motioned once more, this time more forcefully. There was no turning back. Jake moved forward, Neytiri beside him. As they exited the throne room, the next chamber was alive with fiery moss, as with everywhere. It now illuminated the entire cavern, a massive hundreds of feet in the air and more than enough Na'vi to run an entire village. They were just waking, having slept in the darkness of the caves by day- these Na'vi were nocturnal, living and hunting by night- only now did Jake see people going about the necessities of life; mending, cooking, cleaning, all present.
The normalcy filled Jake with a sense of bearing as the group led them to the chopping block. Many of the people halted, watching their King move with the intruders towards a location they all knew. Expectation filled golden eyes, hungry smiles dotted here and there, slowly many filed in after them. It was a massacre and everyone couldn't wait for it to happen. Jake felt condemned, hunted, and afraid for those he brought with him. Had he trusted too much in the Toruk Maktou name? Would a people who hunted Toruk for sport truly respect- and as he had hoped- fear, one who tamed Toruk? It had allowed him to speak, something Jake hadn't thought of. Had it been so long since he'd earned his place among the people, their customs became something he took for granted? Jake threw all such thoughts aside as the group entered an antechamber, gated off from the rest of the network beyond. Jake steeled himself for the fight to come, knowing they would challenge him most for his name.
When Jake turned, the King and Queen were gone, as was Paul. Jake's eyes widened, he hadn't seen them split from the group, but only the wall of guards stood before them now. Jake looked to Neytiri, "When did…?" he breathed, but she looked as suddenly surprised as he.
"I did not see my Jake, I was too concerned for you!"
Jake turned to the guards, "Where's our friend?" but the guards said nothing. Jake stepped forward forcefully, "What have you done with him?"
A single guard locked onto Jake's eyes, "You should be preparing."
Jake just about pushed his way past when he heard the roar; a roar unlike any he had heard on Pandora. It was resounding, reverberating, and high pitched. Jake and Neytiri both turned slowly to face the gate. Following the roar came a greater sound, cheering. The roar of the crowd all but swallowing the roar of whatever lay beyond. Jake and Neytiri looked to one another and the guards took to their knees, spears low, and those with bows standing above them. There was no way out. Jake gritted his teeth, once again hearing the strange roar behind them. "At least give us a weapon!"
The single guard who had locked eyes upon them, smiled, "There are weapons enough within, Toruk- Maktou." And the gate opened.
…
"What!" Yawne's eyes nearly popped form his head as Norm explained.
"Yeah, you know, to get the fire stones or whatever, you survived an attack from them right? You know how powerful that stuff is, well Jake figures with enou-" but by this time Yawne had turned away and clapped both hands to the sides of his head. "uh?" Norm stopped.
"No, no, no- Jake you fool!" Yawne said to no one in particular, "Crap-crap, crap!" and then he dashed from the lab.
Norm watched the spectacle and leaned after him, "Hey is something wrong?"
Yawne ripped through the doorway nearly bowling over a scientist, "Pey! Pey, where are you? I need you!" Yawne sped down the hall so fast he skidded to a stop and slid two feet more, Peyral was speaking with a Na'vi in gym shorts and a tank top when Yawne expertly slid into place beside her and grabbed her.
"What troubles you my-" she began but-
"JakeWentToSee TheNekxTskxeAndTry ToGetSomeOfTheirBurningRocks
AndHeSaysWeNeeds ToTellTheOmaticaya
AndStallIfWeNeedTooBUT TheyTookTheStrangerIMean PaulWithThemToTheVeryHeartOf
TheMostWarLikePeopleOnPandora NotincludingHumansThatIsToSay-"
Yawne looked a bit bluer as Peyral put her fingers to his lips. "Go."
Yawne looked into her eyes as the speechless Na'vi scientist beside them looked on, and then nodded his head. Once more he turned and dashed off like some kind of blue hurricane. She did not even have time to ask Peyral what was happening before he was out of the room; speeding across the lawn and whistling through his fingers. The sound carried far over the trees, and with an answering roar, a massive Ikran of brightest neon blue with dappled light blue markings and soft white undertones, broke from the tree tops, circling once to get her bearings and then dive bombing the still running Yawne below. With unimaginable skill and timing, Yawne paused in his run, crouched low, and then jumped exactly as the massive Ikran soared beneath him inches from the ground. They bonded in midair, gaining altitude without trouble as swiftly as a falcon. Another shape took flight as well, zipping from the foliage like a shot. This beast matched the first in color nearly perfectly, but its markings were broader, sweeping. It was also half the size. Together the pair circled each other as the hunting trio screamed into the sky.
…
Jake screamed as he again rolled out of the way of its claws. Whatever the hell it was, it was fast. It resembled a Palulukan, but it had no eyes- its skin was pale, sickly pale and its frills where twice as long, gliding down its body. Its tail too had an assortment of red fiery frills running along it and it was overall three times as large as the Palulukan which had chased Jake. Despite its blindness, it seemed to know where Jake was without trouble. Viciously diving after him, swiping its massive claws inches from his flesh. It took all Jake had to stay ahead of it. They were in a bowl, as far as Jake could tell, with steep sides lined with spikes facing downward; higher up a wall of guards with poisoned spears, and behind them, stood hundreds of Na'vi in burning markings. It was like the coliseum of ancient Rome beneath the ground. Like the Caesar of old, the King of the Nekxtskxe sat with his Queen at the highest edge of the bowl, just opposite from the gate Jake and Neytiri had been forced out of. She was on the opposite side of the massive beast, trying desperately to fit together the fletching on an arrow with a bow in her hand.
The guard was right, the ground was littered with weapons the crowd had thrown down, but they were incomplete; a spear without a point, arrows without feathers, and bows unstrung. They were weapons yes, but they had to be made useable by the combatants before one could use them to kill. Jake was doing his best now with, basically, a staff. He had no real skill with the heavy pole, but it was being used to keep the blind creature at bay. Sometimes it was all that stood between him and its rending jaws. Again the monster took stock of his position; the eerier rattling of its quills, like a rattlesnake, vibrating through the air as it crouched low and tried to figure out a way past the strange prodding barrier. Jake kept the staff forward, circling the horror with his only weapon. The creature countered his foot falls, keeping its sightless head and maw pointed at him, the strange red whips flowing down its back danced like fingers reaching for Jakes flesh. It was just creepy.
Another lunge brought the creature within three feet, Jake drew back the staff striking it which bounced the shaft harmlessly off its head, as if it was solid bone! Jake gasped as the creature capitalized, surging forward as it felt the barrier shift off of it and reaching forward with red teeth and claws hungrily!- suddenly a arrow pierced its lower jaw! Jake rolled, ducking beneath the rasping claws as the jaw snapped to the side reflexively against the arrow. Neytiri began quickly fletching another arrow as the monster turned to her now as the obvious threat. Jake reeled beneath its white belly, trying to find weakness, trying to figure out a plan. He hadn't expected to fight a beast and had no idea how to handle this sort of thing! With a grunt Jake launched an uppercut into its underbelly, ears laid back and tail thrashing- the beast reacted in surprise, turning to find the source of the poke it could not seem to locate. Jake had to crouch low, as the beast twirled trying to find the source of its agitation. Jake leaned and wove to avoid the six clawing feet that threatened to trample him, and with a gasp the monster finally stood high on its front and back legs, allowing its middle legs to reach under it.
Jake rolled back out of the way toward its tail, a mistake, as the tickle of the long red whips along its length felt him and the thick as an oak paddle slammed into his back sending him sprawling. Jake coughed, the wind knocked out of him as the crowd cheered and the beast turned yet again. "My Jake!" Neytiri screamed. The beast broke into a run, sensing the incapacitated weakness of its prey, Jake looked up in horror as it loped toward him. Jake searched around himself for any defense, finding only the edge of the bowl! Jake suddenly had an idea, crawling as best he could Jake laid himself flat, rolling beneath the down ward jagged spines that kept all occupants inside the ring. They rested just three feet from the ground, naturally formed, and Jake felt the strange cage like teeth scraping his thighs. The beast roared out its rattling cry charging full ahead, if it continued at that speed it wouldn't be able to stop before it crashed into th-! but-! Somehow, the creature seemed to sense the layout, or it knew Jakes plan for it screeched to a halt kicking up gouges of dirt upon the cave floor just before it slammed into the spikes!
Jake's breath caught as the monster halted, strange red whips feeling before it in confusion, trying to figure out the wall and where Jake was hidden beneath the spikes. Jake dared not to breath as the feelers puzzled out his hiding place, the deadly claws could easily hook Jake from his den of spikes once it knew. Neytiri furiously returned to her fletching, pulling the feathers taunt and wrapping the tight leather strip around it. She was frustrated, rushing, but she was not being careless. Curiously the eyeless beast caressed the spikes, seeking flesh though it saw well the heat from its preys' body. The pit of fire in which they fought was trampled flat and colorless from several battles, but the walls and spikes were a livid orange- perhaps the moss gave out just enough heat to mask Jakes own? Slowly the tendrils came closer, and Jake kept his eyes on Neytiri, breathing calmly as she worked diligently to ready another arrow. Closer, and closer the whips moved across the spiked wall until, daintily, they felt Jake's side.
Startled like one touching something that may be hot, the whip jerked backward, then slowly touched again- with a guttural rattle the beast paused, and swiftly drew both clawed feet upwards and assaulted the rocky spikes! The harsh scrape of claws on rock as the monster roared in eager bloodlust nearly deafened Jake, he had to cover his ears and crawl forward beneath the spikes and away from those vicious claws! Without thinking he called out, "Neytiri!"- he wanted to tell her to forget the arrow, but he caught himself for he knew attacking with just the bow would only draw its attention to her- the arrow was the only bladed weapon they had, and the only way to kill such a monster available to them. Neytiri did not answer to Jakes cry as she furiously wound and straightened her work, two feathers complete, but it would need a third to fly true. "Neytiri ju-" Jake called again, this time in an attempt to tell her to run, but he was cut off as the wicked claws scraped closer still in reaction to his distress, inches after he had moved further along the spiked curve. Her heart could not bear it. Enraged and worried, Neytiri lifted the unfinished arrow and ran forward. Jake saw her actions from his hidden spot, even as the claws scraped barely missing him once more, "Neytiri no!" but she came closer still hoping the close range would counter the arrows imprecision. Neytiri came directly beside the monster, pointing her arrow at its neck, drawing the string full brace!
The creature sensed the new presence and instinctively turned, lashing its paddle like tail, Neytiri loosed her arrow but in return was struck a heavy blow which threw her bodily aside. The beast then screamed in pain curling away to gain ground from that which pierced it. Jake turned pale, "NEYTIRI!" he quickly rolled out, crawling toward her. Her eyes were shut, but she was still breathing. Jake checked her pulse regardless, and held her head. Jake whipped his own head back around, the beast stood ten feet from him, searching its side for the arrow haft with its feelers. The arrow was there, buried only a few inches. It had struck bone. With a hoarse rattle, the monster ripped the shaft from its side with its teeth, snapping it in half as it did with the first arrow. Jake bared his teeth, of course the arrow wasn't poisoned. Quickly Jake turned, rolling Neytiris unconscious body beneath the same spikes he had hidden beneath as the monster now advanced. Jake pushed and tucked her as best he could, but he could hear the animals' foot steps as it charged him. At the last possible moment, Jake rolled to the side, barely missing being snapped like the arrow.
The beast gave chase, turning expertly to follow, clawed hands reaching outward to push off the spiked wall without harm. It now knew the wall make and wouldn't be pierced upon them. Jake had to run, though there was nowhere to run too. The sightless monster hot on his tail, Jake felt its breath on his back as it closed the distance, he felt the steam from its open jaws, he heard its triumphant growl… and then a blue body was soaring over him. Jake dove, rolling to avoid it, a war cry struck his ears and then the pained scream of the beast. Jake flipped his head around to see a Na'vi wearing a white loincloth with his braid tied tightly around his neck, he drove the staff Jake was using earlier into the beasts face just where the jaw connected. A powerful thrust which sent the monster reeling and spinning to push back whatever had hit it with its tail. The Na'vi expertly rolled backward with his staff beneath the woosh of the tail, rising again in a spin that sent the staff edge upward into the bottom of the monsters back leg, another joint attack. The beast again let out a haggard whine, this time retreating fully with feelers spread wide defensively.
Jake crouched in shock as the Na'vi in the white loin cloth twirled the staff with ease, he was just as tall as Jake yet bone thin, as one who had not eaten in a great deal of time. His body was not covered in the livid orange lines as were the rest of the Nekxtskxe, and when he appeared, the crowed roared in displeasure. A wave of shouts, hisses, and screams of rage. Was this Na'vi also a prisoner? Jake had all but stood to thank him when the Na'vi suddenly twirled the staff around him expertly, kicking up the trampled dirt in the fury of the staffs speed, and then leaping high to drive the arm thick Bo into the ground with a great crack! Without pause he stepped forward, digging his heel into the wood to further sever the staff's end breaking it completely! Jake was confused beyond measure, why would he destroy his only weapon? Then with a flourish, he whirled it around him to set it heavily upon his shoulders in a confident pose, revealing the edge- though broken, was sharpened… like a massive spear.