XXVIII: Hellfire (XVII)
"Neytiri, Kiss him!" Jake shouted as Neytiri too realized the direction of the cloud and turned her head dumbly. Jake was crouching and holding his ribs as the spray approached, "Antivenom saliva! Get the rocks!" Neytiri had only a moment to comprehend what Jake shouted as the cloud swallowed him and he seemed to punch himself in the side. Neytiri had no time for other thoughts as the cloud now fell upon her and she pulled the lost P'all's face around and bent down. Violently she wrapped her lips around his smaller mouth and, well, practically drank him from the inside out. Her tongue nearly ripped his own from his throat as she felt the sticky sap encircle her and then… the screams began. The sound was, horror incarnate. An entire village of people suddenly faced with their worst waking nightmares. Their cheers and rage were nothing compared to the sound which assaulted her ears now. Bloody screams beyond reason, terror beyond description, absolute utter panic and chaos.
Neytiri squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could. The sounds escalated, bodies falling, trampling each other; the echoed mass of peoples moving as one to escape, to flee, to save their own lives shook Neytiri to the bone. She focused solely on the kiss. Drowning all else out within the odd sensation, though she knew any moment she would feel the unstoppable rush of terror she had heard described by Jake and Yawne themselves. She felt her herself covered with a strange kind of tingle throughout, there was a dry pull like sand and her heart beat furiously -but- for the strange, taste, in her mouth which seemed to spread through her like a warm bath. Neytiri continued to, drink, the fountain of warmth that quickly countered the dead feeling along her skin. The sheer wall of screams had faded, the chaos abated, as the people left the room… leaving a silence so eerie in their wake Neytiri couldn't help but hear her own breathing like a wind through the canyons. Neytiri slowly withdrew her lips, with the odd flavor still on her tongue and opened her eyes to a world of pure… pink.
It was everywhere, she noticed, as she lifted her head; the powder had drifted to blanket the whole of the Arena and all within. Where the livid orange and red moss glowed, now the white powder diluted it to a soft pink. She had never seen such a sight. The arena was empty now, save the body of Txur and the Creature, small rises in the flat blanket. Neytiri looked down to herself, seeing her hands; she was blanketed in white too, as if bleached- but it was the view at the end of her arms which startled her. She had apparently squeezed in her fear, and now Paul's face was squished between her large hands and his eyes crossed besides. Neytiri quickly relaxed her grip, "Ah! My Jake!" she turned dropping Paul and searching around her. In a mixture of relief and worry she spotted Jake's body to the side, also blanketed. "Jake!" Neytiri ran to him, her foot falls stirring the white wash in puffs at her feet. Kneeling quickly, she pulled him aside. A trickle of red fell from his lips, but he breathed still. How had he avoided the fear? Yet Neytiri suddenly recalled him hitting his side before the cloud consumed him. Neytiri felt along his waist, yes, she could feel the bruise and the broken bone. He had rendered himself unconscious to avoid it? How did he know?
Neytiri gently pushed against the wound, knowing for certain a rib was broken, and floating. Neytiri reached within her loin cloth, pulling out the small pouch she had stowed for just such an emergency. Jake had asked they not bring weapons, as a show of good faith, but she knew at least to bring the medicine. Stuffing the herbs into her mouth she chewed, adding the strange flavor of the herbs to P'all's taste. Once ground, she ducked down to Jake and kissed him. Hoping it would be enough to counter the poison and lessen his pain. Neytiri pushed as much as she could down his throat with her tongue, gently, carefully and lovingly. Apology for her next action. With a swift thrust, Neytiri reset the rib from its odd angle. Jake gasped, even in his unconsciousness, but only because he was able to breathe much easier. Neytiri then shredded half the length from her waist cloth and his own with her teeth, wrapping his midsection as best she could. It was all she could do for him.
She recalled his last words, get the rocks, she knew he meant for her to try and find the sacred rocks of the Nekxtskxe. But she could not leave him, she would have to carry him as she searched. Worriedly, Neytiri looked down at Jake, plastered with the powder which had saved them only then recalling P'all. Neytiri turned, seeing P'all laying upon the ground, clutching his face. She rose coming over to him, afraid she had harmed him carelessly. "P'all, are you well?" she said kneeling to him. P'all looked back to her and slowly drew a single hand down over his mouth.
"I'm fime." he said behind it.
Neytiri arched her eyebrows sympathetically, "I did not mean to hurt you, and thank you for your help, you saved us. But I need more of your help. I must find the burning rocks of the Nekxtskxe while they are still incapacitated, I can not carry Jake and search on my own, will you help me?" P'all raised his eyebrows until they looked like they would try to escape from his forehead. Neytiri sighed and gently took his head into her hands, "I will make this up to you. Please."
P'all nodded slowly, still with hand over mouth. "Mok?" he said meekly
"Good." She then turned to Jake as P'all looked up at the ceiling. Neytiri gently hefted Jake upwards to a sitting position. P'all slowly rose, watching her and she beckoned him forward. He stood and came over, "Turn." P'all did so, ducking as he understood. As gently as she could she hefted Jake onto P'all's back. The power suit P'all wore helped him as he bore the full weight of the much larger Na'vi. P'all didn't falter however, even unwrapping his tail from around himself and around Jake as a kind of seatbelt. "Please, be gentle, his rib is broken."
"I'll do my best." he said, cheeks still red from the pressure.
…
The search was eerie at first, leaving the arena, the main cavern was just as burning red but now it was completely devoid of people. Tasks remained abandoned where they lay, stitching, pottery, otherwise all left undone. It seemed the entire population, had gone to see and thus was affect by P'alls venom… even the children. Neytiri feared for the small ones left unprotected, especially the infants… but she could do nothing for them. Jake was hurt and if she didn't want her people to share the same fate she would have to ignore her worry. P'all followed behind her soundlessly, trying his best to keep up. His leg armor pounded with the heavy weight causing almost thunderous steps in the empty caves where not even torches burned. But they went undisturbed as Neytiri quickly looked through room after room, cave after cave, searching even the throne. It seemed to her the only place left to look was deeper into the cave itself. It was easy to find a passage leading downwards, every tunnel they found seemed to dip and descend.
As they moved downward, the floor steepened, the tunnels tightened and Neytiri could tell P'all was becoming anxious the further they went. He also became more fatigued. He did not complain however, though his breath became labored, once more eliciting that strange rattle in his lungs. Yet as far down as the trio went the moss remained; burning tunnels as far as the eye could see, even the vanishing point burned into their vision, but the signs of habitation slowly decreased. Only strange fetishes remained, with odd skulls upon spears decorated with loose folds of blood stained cloth. It was obvious these things were warnings, but that could only mean they were getting closer and closer to something the Nekxtskxe wished to protect. Neytiri spared P'all no words of encouragement as they went, allowing only his rattled breathing to fill the silence punctuated with his boot steps. Deeper, deeper they went, until they very air became warmer and warmer. They had to be close. Neytiri felt a sheen of sweat collect, falling down her skin and create odd patterns in the white powder.
Yet the cavern moved deeper still. Branches off into other caves seemed to dwindle too, where ever a fetish appeared an opening mirrored it, but Neytiri chose the singular main path. She knew if she took a wrong turn, they would be lost in more ways than one… deeper… deeper… always down. It was unnerving, but Neytiri did not rest nor slow. The cavern suddenly bent, almost at a right angel. Neytiri stopped, looking down the path… a wall of spears and skulls greeted her… and two guards. They stood as statues, covered in heavy bone armor of some kind with masks of death. They were formidable, but to Neytiri that only meant they were guarding something important. If Eywa was with her, this was the place she needed to be. Neytiri took up one of the fetish spears, taking the skull off the pointed pike. She would need to be luckier still to get past that bone plating. P'all slowly made to set Jake down as he prepared himself to help. Neytiri waved him back and silent, then slowly stepped forward. The Nekxtskxe turned their heads as one, but did not react, Neytiri did not understand why- not realizing she appeared as some sort of Na'vi phantasm.
Without sound she threw her only spear, the Nekxtskxe to the right doubled over as it at least stuck the wind from him, the second turned to look at his comrade stupidly raising his own weapon too late as Neytiri fell upon him. She dashed the skull in her hand to the one in his head; with a clatter of breaking bone, he fell as the second finally got to his feet, shouting in warning, and anger. Neytiri spun landing a kick to the same place her spear struck, but the armor was too thick and his hands gripped her arm yanking her bodily upwards- only to suddenly jerk away as his eyes flew open and a tortured scream ripped from his throat! Neytiri took a defensive stance in confusion as the guard slammed his back to the wall, looking at his own hands like they were on fire. He shook his head and foam fell from his mouth as he began ripping off his own armor and throwing it at Neytiri recklessly. Neytiri wove around his clumsy throws, as paradoxically the guard turned and suddenly fled. P'all threw his arms up in a defensive stance but the guard didn't stop as he sprinted past them screaming bloody murder. Neytiri paused only to look at her arm, noting, the lack of white in the form of two bare hand prints. Had her sweat reactivated the powder?
Whatever had occurred, they were now free to pass the strange wall; Neytiri carefully pushed open the gate, collecting the guards weapon before she did so. A fine spear meant for close fighting, far more balanced than her previous one. Her foot steps were hushed as the glow from the moss intensified, leading shortly past several natural barriers, only they were facing away from her. It was as if they were not trying to keep people out… but something else in. Neytiri readied herself as P'all followed behind, holding Jake carefully. Neytiri tried to smell the air, her ears perked, her tail went ridged- the whole of the cavern before her smelled of burning. Memories of the fall of Hometree chewed at her but she placed them aside. There was danger before her, danger she could not comprehend. Every sense told her to turn back, and for a moment she feared P'all's powder was beginning to affect her but once she came to a small entrance, she knew instantly why she felt as she did. Peering through the small opening, she saw thousands upon thousands of tiny spheres.
Like pearls of fire, the odd orange and red orbs littered the ground by the thousand, but that was not all that was within, for the orbs clustered around much larger oval shapes… like eggs. Neytiri's eyes continued to rise however, her jaw dropping, as deeper within the room a odd form rested. A monster. Neytiri had never seen such a beast. It did not resemble Palulukan, Toruk, Ikran, Pa'li or anything else in the jungles of Pandora. It looked like some kind of nightmarish version of Lonataya, or as the humans called it, Medusa. Yes it had several tentacle limbs flowing off it in several directions, but they were like barbed vines, all spiraling upwards into a main body like… like some kind of hellish bell which was also hardened with several plates. However, it had an elongated neck with an obvious mouth-less head, which Lonataya did not. The creature lay atop the field of odd spheres, breathing gently and rhythmically though Neytiri saw no air holes.
It glowed a violent orange and red like its surroundings but ripples of yellow, blue, and white washed over it constantly, like living fire. The strange animal was unheard of in the skies or the forests and Neytiri was not certain if she knew exactly how she would hunt one, let alone slay it if she had too. The creature had no bulbous sac vulnerable to puncture, and even its deadly tentacles could not be slashed. Why would the Nekxtskxe live near such a monstrous creature? But Neytiri's eyes once more fell to the smaller spheres clustered around the odd egg shapes… where these the burning rocks? P'all was beside Neytiri, without Jake who rested behind them, "Whoa, what is that?" he whispered with the tell tale rattle. Neytiri silenced him with a hand, yet the creature stirred regardless. With a wet gurgling rumble the mouth-less head lifted, neck turning as unblinking eyes searched for the source. Neytiri cringed back as it scanned the entirety of itself and the thigh thick lengths of tentacles pulled forward. The motion disturbed some of the spheres and a single one rolled from its base, tinkling like sky people glass before it hit the lip of the platform and fell to the floor.
As it struck the ground the sphere shattered, orange liquid spread outwards and began to smoke, sizzling. Neytiri's nose was assaulted with the odd smell, which if she had been accustomed to earth warfare, she would have placed it as somewhat like Napalm. Slowly the orange liquid evaporated, leaving behind only burnt and melted rock behind; a black smear the size of home trees' pit fire. Again Neytiri was awed and horrified by it, if one hand sized orb could produce a burn the size of five Na'vi lying side by side, a basket full could destroy a Dragon kunship! …and the room was filled to overflowing. Neytiri licked her lips unconsciously, the task was clear to her. There were two problems though; one, she would need to collect as many spheres as possible without the beast noticing. Second, even if she did get the spheres she needed, she didn't know how to transport them all up to the surface. Neytiri turned back to P'all reaching out to pull him close, P'all sucked in his lips reflexively but Neytiri only placed her mouth to his ear. "P'all, return to the cavern, find us a basket, jar, or other container, as large or as many as you can, I will retrieve the stones."
P'all wilted his brow, eyes still on the beast through the hole and leaned in close to the side of her face where a human ear would be. Neytiri hid her smile as his lips touched her cheek, "Are you sure? What if that thing attacks you?"
Neytiri shook her head, "There is no time, you must be quick, but be careful. I need you greatly, I can not carry Jake and the stones by myself."
P'all frowned but turned, "I won't fail you." Then he 'snuck' back the way he had come, his power boots thudding and breath rattling as he went. Neytiri sighed, turning her head to see the monster's reaction; its six unblinking eyes faced directly at the hole.
"Eywa…" Neytiri breathed deeply and waited, her ears laid back and tail slowly lashing out the time. She had to wait for the beast to resettle. Neytiri turned her head, looking back to Jake who remained unconscious, breathing gently against the wall. She feared for him and her people, and the only thing standing between her and what she needed to save them was a monster which could easily kill her in a room which the slightest misstep would mean certain death. Neytiri felt her toes dig into the stone, she did not feel the peace of the forest here. She did not feel the calm tranquility that assured her of Eywa's watchful eye as her Tshaik training taught her. This, was a pit of flames where only death, suffering, and evil ruled- and there at the heart of it rested a demon of wicked form surrounded by unimaginable destructive power. It was the closest thing to Na'vi hell on Pandora. Neytiri took a deep breath, even as the monsters head slowly turned away, and moved through the breach, her tail and short spear disappearing through the hole without even a whisper of hesitation.