CHAPTER ONE – HUNT SONG

Teríran ayoe ayngane

Zera'u

Rerol ayoe ayngane

Ha ftxey

Awpot set ftxey ayngal a lu ayngakíp

Awpot a Na'viru yomtíyíng.

A young taronyu of the Omatikaya clan was singing in a low voice while waiting for her younger brother. She was practicing day and night to become one of the best hunters in the clan, and she and her brother – who found it easier to hunt from the beginning – had been declared ready to fly.

"Oeyä swizaw níngay tivakuk, oeyä tukrul txe'lanit tivakuk-"

"I am on my way, you can stop singing", the voice of her brother interrupted as he was climbing down from the last branch, his feet finding the forest floor.

"There is only a week left. A week from now we will be standing on the mountains. Za'u!"

"Syani, wait!"

The two young na'vi started walking away from Kelutral and were headed to a quieter place near the tree where they were going to meet the olo'eyktan and the tsahík. Syani was walking faster than her brother, who weren't in a hurry unlike her.

"Slow down, Syani. The hunters have not even woken up yet."

"Take this seriously, Txeptey. Do you know what the tsahík said? She said: hawngkrr rä'ä zíva'u."

"She did not. I was there", Txeptey reminded his older sister whose tail was swinging aggressively from side to side while she walked.

"But she probably thought just that."

Txeptey let out a laugh, wondering why she acted the way she did.

"Rutxe, we are the last members of the family to leave this morning!", she said, trying to get him to move faster.

"That is because sempul is assisting our olo'eyktan, Taytiri is teaching his son, your yawntu Royang is following our tsahík wherever she goes, and the rest of them are doing what they prefer to spend their time on doing. Why are you nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous?", Syani asked a bit shyly, knowing inside that she was nervous.

"You can tell me the reason."

Syani stopped for a moment. Txeptey, who had been walking a few steps behind her, also stopped to look at her.

"I was not a very good hunter until recently. I still have a lot to learn to match sempul and Hakyu and you. Txeptey, you know that I was not anywhere near as good as you or any of the others. I cannot fail at this, too. I want to become a great Ikran Makto, but I fear that Eywa does not want me to because of how it was not her will that I should hunt."

"But you do hunt, Syani. I think it was her will that you struggled to become as good as you are now", Txeptey told her and tried to cheer her up.

"Why must I struggle while none of you had to struggle? Whenever I do something, Eywa wants me to struggle with it. Just look at us now. You are younger than me and yet you have already been deemed ready to climb Iknimaya with me."

"Just because she makes it difficult for you it does not mean she does not want you to do it. It has nothing to do with you. I am only a year younger. If I had been five years younger, it would have been unfair to you."

Instead of answering him, Syani frustratedly took in a deep breath, turned around and started walking again. Txeptey followed her and noticed that she had slowed down a bit.

"Oeri tíngayíl txe'lanit tivakuk…", she continued to sing, which made Txeptey laugh again.

"Leave the singing to Taytiri. Can you believe the future of the clan depends on her teaching? I wonder how Kamun thought it to be a good idea."

"Have faith in her, Txeptey, she helped raise you as well."

"That suddenly explains why Kamun trusts her to teach Eytukan."

"Keep your voice down, we are almost there", Syani told him in a half whisper and gave him a jokingly disbelieving look.

They slowed a bit down as they spotted the leaders of their clan. Syani shyly looked at them, then turned her head towards Txeptey, and then back to look at them – she was the older sibling after all. The tsahík used her hand to tell them to sit down opposite them. Syani looked at her brother before she knelt down to sit. Txeptey had already done as they were told in a much more relaxed manner than her. Kamun wasn't speaking. Before the leaders were the remains of the prey which Syani and Txeptey had brought home to the clan. The olo'eyktan was praying, making sure that whatever bits of the animal's soul might still be within the remains would return to the All Mother. The tsahík smiled at the two young hunters, ensuring them that them being there was a good thing. Kamun finally opened his eyes and smiled at them while the tsahík held the remains closer to her and started whispering one last prayer to them.

"Our young hunters", he calmly said and looked specifically at Syani, "Oel ngati kameie, ma Syani te Lemwi Eynari'ite", he greeted her and then looked at her brother, "Oel ngati kameie, ma Txeptey te Lemwi Akeyam'itan."

They returned his greeting with the traditional hand gesture. Kamun then pointed his hand at the remains of the prey. Both of them looked at the remains.

"You have hunted as you have been taught, and by Eywa's will you have provided food for the people. You have proven to us that you are ready for Iknimaya. Do you wish to keep a piece of the remains in memory of your first kill as hunters?"

As Syani turned her head to look at Txeptey before deciding, he was quick to answer: "I appreciate it, but no thanks. The memory alone is enough for me", he declined to her surprise. She looked confusedly at him for a moment, not understanding his decision. Then she remembered that she hadn't answered the olo'eyktan yet.

"I want to keep a piece of our brother whose soul has travelled. If you allow it, may I also keep the piece which was offered to Txeptey?"

Kamun closed his eyes for a few seconds, approving of her request. When he opened his eyes again, he gave Syani the two bones. She accepted them and closed her eyes for a moment as well.

"The rest of the bones will each serve a purpose to help the people. Some will be used to build, some to hunt, some to warn, and some to create music that teaches our young ones. No energy will be wasted", the olo'eyktan explained. As he stopped talking, the tsahík opened her eyes for the first time since she started praying. She placed her hand on one of the many roots that covered the ground and connected her queue to the root.

"Ma Royang. Za'u", she calmly whispered as her hand was on the root, her queue still connected to it. From a short distance, the seventeen-year-old na'vi Royang received her request of assistance and walked over to them. As he arrived, he glanced at Syani with a little smile, and she shyly smiled back at him. Txeptey teasingly puffed her shoulder while trying to hold in his laughter. She gave him an annoyed look in return. Royang quickly understood what the tsahík wanted him to do, so he leaned forward. She handed him the remains of the animal, which were carefully placed in his hands. He then straightened back up and understood that he was supposed to pass them on to those who could provide each bone with a purpose.

"Ma Syani, ma Txeptey", Kamun said and got their attention, "as taronyu, you may join the other hunters on today's hunt if you wish."

"Irayo, ma Olo'eyktan", Txeptey answered and stood back up, ready to walk away. As Syani was getting up, the tsahík called her name to prevent her from leaving just yet.

"Look at me, Syani. You are a taronyu by the will of Eywa. You are a hunter. Remember that, and trust in yourself more."

At first Syani didn't know what to answer, so she just smiled. She proceeded to get back up on her feet whereafter she once again looked at the tsahík.

"Kíyevame, ma Tsahík… ulte ma Olo'eyktan", she said and turned around to follow her brother. He was walking in the direction of the clan's Hometree, and Syani knew he was probably headed towards the forest. She caught up with him and mildly pushed him to the side to get his attention. He looked at her with a confused smile on his face as she was looking at him like he was supposed to know why she did it.

"What?"

"Are we joining the hunters?", Syani asked.

"Kehe. I'm going with Vetxo."

"That hurt. You choose a cousin over me? Txeptey, you are the youngest, you are supposed to be begging me to hunt with you!"

"You heard what the Tsahík told you. You are a good enough hunter, you don't need my presence", Txeptey reminded her.

"Kehe, but I still want your presence", she said and paused for a few seconds, "What is it about Vetxo you find so amazing?"

"What is it about Royang you find so amazing?"

"I… I don't know."

"Exactly."

"I just find him interesting, and he knows so much", Syani had to admit.

"Vetxo knows a lot of things as well."

"Have you met him? Just because he is older than us does not mean he's smarter."

"Royang is older than us, too. Drop it already, Syani. You can join the hunters if you want", Txeptey tried to convince her as they walked. She sighed and looked at the ground for a while. She wished she was as good at hunting as her father, her brother, and her sister's mate who had helped her a lot back when she was struggling the most. Txeptey looked at her and was not sure how he could make her feel better. He stopped walking and placed a hand on her shoulder to make her stop as well. She was still facing the ground.

"Ma Syani. We are not in a hurry. We have all the time we need to hunt. I promise you that we will hunt together when the time comes for the next hunt, and when we are flying, we will be even better hunters."

A smile grew on Syani's face until she finally let out a little laugh of acceptance. She admittedly looked forward to the next hunt as she felt better hunting when he was with her. She felt odd about it, though. She was the oldest of the two, she should be the wise one. Their older sister was wise, too. She wanted to know what it was like being able to be everything that they were.

As they returned to Kelutral, Txeptey spotted Vetxo waiting for him by the other end of the tree. He started running towards him, and as he was coming close enough, Vetxo signaled him to follow him into the rainforest. As they ran off, Vetxo's mother Sya'amwa yelled after him:

"Ma Vetxo! You stay away from the Sky People! Don't go too close!", but she had no idea whether he even heard her or not. Syani noticed how Sya'amwa sighed and proceeded to walk towards some of the plants beside the enormous side of the tree. She started gathering specific parts of the plants and put them in a basket she was carrying. Syani took in a deep breath and in her restlessness, she looked around at her clan members who were easy to get a wide view of from the opening of Kelutral in which she was standing.

Her older sister Taytiri was by the clan's skull of a Toruk. A group of children were sitting around her, admiring the song she sang and the story that it told. They were eager to learn to sing the song with her. Among the children were Kamun's son Eytukan. He was paying close attention in a quiet manner and remembered most of the words Taytiri sang. Syani's father Akeyam had met up with Kamun. As the Olo'eyktan's entrusted advisor, Akeyam provided him with a discussion partner by showing up every time he was needed, and sometimes even when he wasn't. The mate of Akeyam, Eynari, joined Sya'amwa and helped her gather. Eynari was a teacher of songs like her firstborn, but today she had let Taytiri teach. Eynari's brother who was the mate of Sya'amwa, Peyru, had left Kelutral to find the waterhole where the direhorses thrived. There, he would find a direhorse for the hunt. He would also find his youngest son, Norong and his mate, Reyn, who both looked after the direhorses. Despite Norong and Reyn being younger than Norong's older brother Vetxo, the two were soon to become parents. Vetxo once found a potential mate, but for the first time in many years, Eywa had to interfere and strongly advise them not to become mates. In their dreams, she sent them signs she had seen herself. Their future together would not be a prosperous one. Therefore, Vetxo was without a mate, but it did not seem to bother him. Lastly, Syani looked up at one of the upper branches where she could see her grandparents, Marak and Atanama, sitting together, listening to the song Taytiri was singing. All of them were settled. Even Txeptey who was younger than Syani.

With a nose scrunch she chose to ignore the way it stung inside and started climbing the tree. She didn't want to go too high up for now, so she only climbed a little further up than her grandparents – and climbed the opposite side of the tree to avoid them. She sat down on a branch and looked at the two bones she had been given. After a while she couldn't help but gently hit them together as her mind was elsewhere.

"Are you avoiding your family or are you simply having fun playing with those bones?", Royang's voice asked, calling her back from her own thoughts.

"Sometimes I forget how silently you move. How long have you been here?", she asked in a low voice yet with a clear tone.

"I have barely been here. I saw you when you climbed up here and followed you", Royang told her and sat down beside her. His eyes never left her face as he moved a bit closer to her. They sat in silence for a moment. While Syani kept thinking, Royang kept looking at her, fascinated by her. When she finally noticed him looking at her, she shyly looked back at him and started to smile involuntarily.

"What?", she then asked while still being unable to stop smiling. Royang grinned a bit at her.

"Once you have completed the Dream Hunt… it might be time to consider choosing… a mate", he said and looked down at her hand. Gently, he started to slowly reach for it.

"You know who I want to choose… if I even manage to climb Iknimaya."

"You will. Trust me", Royang said in a low voice and looked down at their hands again. As he was looking down, Syani looked at him with a little smile on her lips. She moved her hand over to his until their hands joined together. Now holding hands, they felt more at ease.

"The Tsahík is communicating with you through the roots now. Your connection must have become closer", Syani interestedly said.

"Are you jealous?", Royang teased.

"Kehe, I just think it's a shame that you can't become the clan's next tsahík."

They started laughing and Royang teasingly pulled Syani closer to him and held her in his arms, refusing to release her.

"Say you are sorry!", he jokingly demanded from her.

"Sorry… ma Tsahík!" They were both laughing as Royang mercilessly tickled her and they started to fall over. They managed to maintain enough balance to not fall off the branch which only made them laugh even more. They both knew they were in love, but they were unable to choose each other as mates until Syani completed Iknimaya and lastly Uniltaron. Royang completed the Dream Hunt the year before and was waiting for her. What kept Syani motivated aside from wanting to make her family proud was knowing that if she successfully completed bonding with an ikran, they wouldn't have to wait much longer to have gained the right to choose each other.

At nightfall, the Omatikaya clan held one of their anticipated hunt festivals to celebrate the successful hunts during the past weeks. The hunt that was completed earlier that day was the last of the month. Every member of the clan was participating on the event and joy filled the atmosphere of their Hometree. The children of the clan were allowed to stay up longer than usual. Kamun and his mate were enjoying the event while still keeping an eye on Eytukan who was with the other children. Though he was thriving with the children, he was a bit more reserved than them. At one point, as he was running around with the children, he stopped to look at one of the girls who were dancing along with the large amount of na'vi who were dancing all together. She danced like them but what fascinated the boy was how deeply concentrated she was and how she focused at such an extreme level on every movement she made. It was like she entered a dance trance while everyone else were just dancing. Her name was Mo'at. Kamun noticed Eytukan looking like he had been hypnotized by this interesting girl who took the dancing incredibly serious before his attention switched to focus on Akeyam. With their eyes the two fathers greeted each other.

"Ma sempul!", the voice of Txeptey yelled, making Akeyam join most of the Lemwi family who were sitting together. He squatted down between his son and his oldest daughter. Beside Taytiri was her mate Hakyu, who was insistingly trying to convince her to come dance with him. It served as great entertainment for the whole family as they all knew how terrible of a dancer she was.

"Rutxe, come with me!", Hakyu begged while holding her hand.

"Kehe, ma Hakyu, you know I cannot dance!"

"No one will notice when you are with me, I'm a terrific dancer", Hakyu teased and gave her a desperate smile that begged her to go with him.

"Kehe, I am sitting here having a conversation with Reyn", she excused and grabbed a hold of Reyn sitting opposite her, "Take my sister!", she added while both she and Reyn were laughing. Hakyu turned to look at Syani who was laughing along with Taytiri and Reyn.

"Now you have to, Syani! You know how to dance, we can show Taytiri how to dance", Hakyu jokingly said.

"Sure, it is a festival after all", Syani agreed and followed Hakyu. They joined the na'vi who were already dancing and had fun trying to keep up with them. Taytiri smiled at them before resuming her conversations with the other family members. Syani had found a good friend in Hakyu. He was the one who had helped her the most back when she struggled a lot to master her bow. She was glad he was now part of the Lemwi family. She was glad that he and Taytiri had chosen each other. She was happy for them. They danced for some time while Taytiri, Reyn, Eynari and Royang were talking about Reyn's pregnancy. Akeyam, Norong, Sya'amwa, Marak and Atanama were talking, and Txeptey had joined Vetxo with whatever he was doing. Peyru joined Hakyu and Syani and the three of them danced together. When the dancing na'vi people suddenly started pairing up for a two-and-two dance, Peyru and Syani paired up which gave Hakyu one final opportunity to get Taytiri out there with him.

"I cannot do this alone", he called as she looked at him.

"That's too bad, I can't dance!", she yelled back loud enough for him to hear her despite the music that was constantly playing.

"Just because you're not good at dancing it does not mean you shouldn't dance", Hakyu said and reached out his hand for her to take. After a moment of thinking, Taytiri decided to give in and took his hand. He pulled her with him, and they started dancing together, although she had no rhythm nor control over her body when dancing. It didn't matter a thing. They were having fun. All of them were enjoying the hunt festival that harmonically reflected on their eventful lives lately. The hours went by fast without trouble except for when Vetxo at some point wanted Txeptey to give him one good reason why he shouldn't try to shoot an arrow through the eye hole of the Toruk skull. Somehow Txeptey stopped his cousin from doing so, and the night continued.

Later that night, as the hunt festival was coming to an end after many hours of happy and energetic na'vi people celebrating together, Syani was helping some other na'vi gathering the bowls that had been used for drinking throughout the evening when she heard a distant sound. She followed the sound, and it became familiar. As she got closer, she realized that it was her grandmother Atanama. She was sitting by herself, and she was… crying. Syani felt bad for her even though she had seen her cry by herself before. She sat down beside her not knowing what to say. No matter how many times she had seen someone cry, it never got easier for her to know how to react.

"Kxi, grandmother", she mumbled and paused for a moment, "is it your ikran?"

There was silence for a long time except for the sounds of Atanama's low cries.

"Srane", she finally answered and leaned her head against her granddaughter. Syani leaned her head against Atanama's and gave her the time she needed to cry. She knew that her grandmother once had an ikran with whom she shared such a close bond with. Atanama's best friend in the whole world was her ikran. One day her ikran passed away. Syani didn't know how or why. She didn't know the name of the ikran either. No one did except for Atanama herself and Marak who also got to meet it. Their children barely got to meet the ikran, but Syani's mother had told her about the few memories she had of her mother's ikran.

"Ma Syani", Atanama weakly mumbled in a low voice.

"Yes?"

"I still remember the feeling of someone calling for you. My ikran called for my soul. That calling is unlike anything you will ever experience. It is freeing unlike any other kind of freedom you can be given. Promise me that you won't take it for granted… the gift of being called by an ikran. You must truly feel it… inside. Feel it and remember it", the elderly woman said, and a tear rolled down her cheek at the same time as a tear rolled down Syani's cheek.

"I will", she promised.

"Good. Txeptey must too. It is an exciting time for our family."

"Srane. Reyn told me that she and Norong want to name their child after you if Eywa makes it a girl."

"What a funny idea. The child will be named after Marak if Eywa makes it a boy, then?"

"I assume so."

A smile showed on Atanama's face which made Syani smile in relief. Then she heard footsteps coming from behind them and looked over her shoulder to see Marak walking towards them. She got up to help him as he wasn't walking very well anymore. She leant him her arm for support.

"Irayo, ma Syani", he thanked and gently stroke her hand. He stopped to look at his mate.

"I will take it from here, ma yawntu. Go get some sleep", he said with the kindest smile on his face and sat down beside Atanama. Syani watched them for a bit with such respect and love for them. It amazed her how well they understood each other and knew of each other's needs all the time. They had known each other for most of their lives and had been together for as long as they remembered. If one found themselves with one of them, they would be sure to find the other one close by. Marak and Atanama were never too far away from each other. They refused to. Syani smiled, feeling a mixture of being happy that the two had each other and feeling sad on behalf of her grandmother's loss which she had never fully recovered from and maybe never would. Syani tried to think positively and reminded herself that they would reunite someday. She had always had a feeling that her ikran didn't die a natural death. Marak's ikran passed away naturally many years later and he seemed to be better at accepting the loss. Maybe they just coped differently with that kind of loss. She would probably never know.

When she woke up the following morning, everything seemed to be back to normal like most days. From her sleeping hammock she could see the place where she had found her grandmother the night before. She was no longer there, and neither was her grandfather. She looked to her side to find that Txeptey wasn't there. She figured he had already gone off with Vetxo somewhere. She turned to her other side where Taytiri was.

"Ma Taytiri", she whispered a couple of times until her older sister heard her. She tiredly and slowly turned around to face Syani while yawning. Instead of answering, she just lay down and waited for her to tell her what she wanted to tell.

"Did you notice Txeptey leaving?"

"Kehe, but I have one guess on who he is with. Sya'amwa probably saw them leave, she is always up early."

Syani stayed silent for a moment. Her mind drifted off and she didn't move. She had a weird feeling inside. She connected the feeling to the conversation she had with her grandmother last night. She looked back at Taytiri.

"Will you be teaching the children today?", she asked her.

"Sa'nok will teach them a hunt song today."

Syani was thinking. She wanted to take Taytiri with her on a walk and try to explain how she had a weird feeling about their grandparents. Now that her sister wouldn't be singing with the children of the clan today, she would have more time to talk. Her thinking and the calming silence was suddenly broken by someone's desperate cry for help coming from outside Kelutral. The shaky cry got everyone's attention, and after exchanging shocked looks, the two sisters quickly rose to their feet and hurried down the tree to see what was happening. When down on the ground, they ran towards the rainforest where the other na'vi who had heard the cry were gathering. A sudden sense of fear spread fast around the people. Syani had a very bad feeling inside. She feared that it had something to do with Marak and Atanama and couldn't get to the other side of their home fast enough. Taytiri and Syani arrived just as two na'vi came in sight from the bushes. They came running while carrying someone between them. Syani narrowed her eyes as an attempt of being able to see who they were carrying out of the rainforest.

"Vetxo!", Taytiri screamed, realizing it was their cousin they were carrying. She grabbed her little sister's arm as she started running towards them to make sure she followed. They ran after them, both of them tearing up in fear. Vetxo was unable to walk and was bleeding. Those carrying him were having a hard time getting him to the tsahík. He was barely awake anymore. Taytiri and Syani caught up with them as they put him down, fearing the worst if they kept moving him around.

"Vetxo!", Taytiri repeated in a very shaky voice. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Instead of kneeling down beside him, she turned around and ran away to find his parents. Her sorrow-filled voice echoed through the place as she screamed their names.

"Ma Peyru! Sya'amwa!", she kept calling. The clan leaders arrived in a hurry and walked past Syani who stood completely still, shocked. She couldn't move, couldn't think. Her body and mind was frozen while the tears kept falling from her eyes who turned red from her lack of blinking which she couldn't do either. She didn't even feel the worried touch of Kamun's hand on her shoulder.

"Ma Syani!", he yelled, trying to bring her back. When she finally broke through and realized he was there and calling her name she almost screamed. Now she started shaking but managed to look at him. She then looked down at her cousin who looked even more lifeless than before. The tsahík was desperately trying to help him. There was more blood than before. His leg looked to be broken. Syani tried to comfort him but couldn't even control her own emotions. She couldn't even bring herself to touch him. Instead she got back up on her feet and slowly started backing away. Kamun looked at her with worry in his eyes. She was breathing visibly heavy and wasn't speaking or making any noise.

"Ma Syani?", he asked as calmly as he could.

"Txeptey."