The wind whipped across Jake's face, stinging at his eyes, providing a welcomed distraction from thoughts of his shared dream with Tsu'tey two nights previously.

They hadn't talked about it much, and had decided against sharing the newfound information with anyone else until they had returned. They needed to focus on the mission at hand, but Jake knew Tsu'tey's mind was just as troubled as his own.

The night after they had set out towards the Kekunan clan, they had fallen asleep with a silent, shared mix of trepidation and hope—hope that maybe another face, lost so long ago, would be waiting to greet them.

However, no such dream would come to them that night. Instead they lay, side by side, hand in hand, on the Astro turf of Jake's middle school soccer field, the flood lights washing them in a blanket of flickering white.

"She said..." Jake had whispered after several hours of staring up at the stars, "she said that we would get those dreams before times of stress... do you think something is going to happen during the meeting? Or do you think the meeting alone counts as being stressful enough?"

Tsu'tey didn't answer for a moment, when Jake looked over at him, his mouth was pressed in a tight line, "I do not know, my Jake. We can only hope that it is the latter."

The rest of the night was spent in relative silence, content with taking the time to rest and reflect on their own private thoughts, comforted by the knowledge that the other was there beside them.

-x-

"We're nearly there!" Neytiri called from Jake's left, having just rejoined them from where she had dipped below the ever present mist hanging high over the canopy to assess their location.

Jake gave a cheer to that, despite any other feelings he may have been experiencing, two days of standing crouched on his íkran had his legs aching and he was eager for a break.

Neytiri's íkran shrieked as she dipped below the mist once more, preparing to guide the party down towards the Kekunan Hometree.

Jake tried to ignore the rapid fire beating of his heart as they descended a few moments later, catching Tsu'tey's eye every so often either for comfort or solidarity, he wasn't sure.

-x-

The meeting was, especially when compared to the last one, going rather well. It was taking place out in the open, with what seemed to be the majority of the tribe in attendance, but was not nearly as lively as the Olangi had been and no one had threatened anyone with bodily harm yet—which was a success in Jake's book, not that his standards were very high at this point.

It became clear, however, as the meeting drug on and on, the Kekunan's Olo'eyktan allowing Eytukan to reword the same argument several times over, that they were not getting anywhere.

They were approaching their second hour, a vein in Eytukan's temple visible and warning of the man's growing anger and decreasing patience, when the other leader finally decided they had suffered enough.

"I hear your plea for assistance, Eytukan," he said with an almost flippant gesture of his hand, "we, as a people, are not opposed to aiding in a battle. I understand the dangers of the Skypeople and you have explained their plan adequately, my issue, however, is joining a battle with YOUR clan."

"Excuse me?" Eytukan's eyes narrowed, just managing to quell the growl that attempted to escape his chest.

"You must understand, this is not a personal criticism. I hesitate to join your clan, in a battle of such caliber, in the same way that I would not be motivated to join the Anurai or the Tawkami clans."

"You dare compare my clan to those who have no warriors? Who spend their days fashioning instruments from found objects or meditating over flowers?" Eytukan was just a hair's breadth from yelling, and every muscle in Jake's body tensed, ready to either fight or flee depending on what would get them out the fastest, "my clan has the most versatile warriors across all eleven tribes."

A glint appeared in the other leader's eye, and Jake had the sinking feeling that it had always been his intention to rile up Eytukan.

"Me and my people would be happy to join you in your battle, Eytukan... if I believed you. Perhaps if we were to test one of your warriors, see how they compare to mine, then... assuming they be able to stand their own, enough to prove themselves as capable as you claim, then we would have no reason to deny your request."

Eytukan tried to school his expression back into something calmer, more diplomatic, but it, somehow, only made him look angrier, "name your test, Turon."

"I believe it only fair for your warrior to partake in the expertise of my people, since you are so certain that their VERSATILE skill set can hold up to the clans whom take the time to hone their specialties," Turon's features were purged of any telling emotion, but his eyes were alight with a hidden mirth, "they shall race their íkrans from one end of our territory to the other. This should be a simple enough task. So long as your warrior does not finish last, Eytukan, you may count the Kekunan as an ally in your fight."

"I agree to these terms," Eytukan said, his mouth set in a firm line, "Tsu'tey will represent the Omaticaya clan in this test of skills."

A look of pure glee flashed across Turin's face, just long enough for Jake to see, his blood running cold at the sight, his heart stopping completely when the Olo'eyktan opened his mouth with a flash of teeth, "no."

"No?" Eytukan repeated, and Jake feared the poor man would burst a blood vessel before all this was over.

"No," Turon shook his head, "the point of this test is not to show me your best, Eytukan. No, I want to test the merits of the Omaticaya's training, and what better way than to test a member of your clan who has not been a warrior for more than a season? If your clan as impressive as you seem to think they are, then the one called Jake-Sully should have no difficulty completing this simple task."

Jake nearly groaned, managing to clamp down on it before it escaped his throat. It wasn't that he was a bad flier, he had a good connection with his íkran and he could generally keep up with Tsu'tey just fine on a normal day, but he wasn't anywhere near as good as the other man—who could turn on a dime and reach speeds Jake had yet to understand how they were physically possible.

"This is acceptable," Eytukan said through gritted teeth, his temper being held back by self control alone, Jake's heart sinking into his stomach.

-x-

Jake found himself perched on the back of his íkran, its long talons digging into the cliff side he and the other warriors had been instructed to begin at, wishing he could be anywhere else.

He let his eyes skirt over the Kekunans lined up on either side of him, out of the dozen that had been chosen, it seemed it was nearly perfectly split down the middle between seasoned and new, fresh-faced warriors.

At least Turon, for all his strange behaviors and apparent competitive streak, was fair.

The race would end back at the Kekunan Hometree, just a few dozen miles from their starting location, so Jake would have to stay on his toes the entire way.

"Are you ready, Dreamwalker?" A warrior, a woman, perhaps a few years his senior, asked from beside him. Her tone was not unkind, sounding for all intents and purposes as though they were doing this for fun, and Jake had to wonder if the whole ordeal was all for show—but he couldn't risk banking on that assumption.

"I am ready," Jake nodded, feeling the wings of his íkran flex in anticipation.

The warrior nodded back at him before announcing to the line that they were about to begin, "this is an honorable race," she said, loud enough for all to hear, "we will fly straight from here to Hometree. There will be no attacking of your fellow racers, we are all to reach our destination unscathed." She did not ask for confirmation that they understood her, operating under the impression that her words would be heard and she would be obeyed, and something told Jake that she was correct in that assumption.

He shook himself from his thoughts as she began counting down, the other warriors tensing, ready to shoot off as soon as she reached zero.

When the moment came, Jake found himself launching away from the cliff, nosing down into a sharp dive. The other íkrans were falling with him on all sides, until, in nearly perfect synchronization, they snapped their wings open, sending them rocketing off towards the finish line.

Jake, not willing to fall behind so soon, was quick to follow suit, quickly overtaking some of the less experienced fliers and leaving them far behind.

The Kekunans weaved and dove without hesitation at any opportunity to pass one another.

Jake hung back for a moment, watching how they moved and reacted to threats. He wouldn't win by simply being fast, speed alone might keep him from coming in last, but Jake, if he had any say in it, was going to win.

With this in mind, Jake went into a sharp dive, falling so fast and deep that everything around him passed in a blur of color. He held out until he could nearly brush his hands along the tree tops, easing out of the dive and using the direction of the wind to catch on his íkran's opened wings, pushing them forward to make up for the distance between them and the lead that they had lost in their decent.

He was acting in the hopes that the other warriors would not be willing to lose their standing in the race in order to follow after him, Jake now free to jettison himself forward without the obstacle of the other fliers trying to cut him off.

His plan seemed to work, allowing him to push his way forward until he was nearly directly under the leading íkran. The race about halfway finished, Jake began slowly climbing upwards, staying just under the leading Kekunan.

Once the lead flier realized what was happening, Jake was close enough to shoot out from beneath them, banking upwards, forcing them to dive out of the way, their íkran screeching at the disturbance in what had been an uninterrupted run.

Using the brief stutter in the other warrior's performance, though it only took them a moment to recover from their surprise, it was enough to allow Jake to gain a considerable lead.

All he had to do now was maintain a manageable speed, and box out anyone trying to get by him, he could do that.

Just as Jake thought he could see his final destination in the far distance, a shadow fell over him.

At first, he wondered if several of the Kekunan warriors had formed a group and were trying to overtake him in a similar tactic as the one he had employed, but when he looked up, he realized it was so much worse than that.

There, blocking out the sun, his great wings outstretched as he soared though the sky, currently descending on Jake so fast he barely had time to bank to the side to dodge, was the Toruk.

It shrieked as Jake dove out of its way, just barely managing not to get clipped by the great beast's wings.

He stared in horror, wondering what he could have possibly been blocking in its way for it to have been making a beeline straight for him. That horror only doubled when he watched as it shot up from its dive, maneuvering faster and with more grace than anything that size had any right to, firing off once more in his direction.

Jake forced his body and mind to break from the shock, managing to dodge again, narrowly escaping its powerful, open jaws.

He didn't have time to process what was happening as the Toruk dove towards him again. There was no denying it, this beast of legend was after him, for what reason, he didn't have time to ponder as all his focus was on dodging and weaving, only just escaping its sharp, reaching talons.

He wondered briefly, just a fleeting thought between the manic chant of 'live-live-live' that rang through his mind, where the other warriors had gone, if they were stuck behind him, wings flapping wildly in order to keep them in place, or if they had managed to get passed him.

He didn't have a weapon, none of them did, not that it would have done much good against the giant—there was nothing any of the other warriors could do to help him as he continued diving out of the way.

His moment came when the Toruk dove too deeply, unable to bank back upwards as quickly as it had been.

Noticing the opening, Jake shot of in the direction of the Kekunan Hometree, the top of the great tree just visible in the distance.

As he flew, pressing in desperate pleas for his íkran to go faster, he could hear the beating of the Toruk's wings as it recovered from its fall.

If he had thought that, perhaps, once he broke free, the creature would lose interest, he would have been wrong.

He could hear it behind him, it let out an ear splitting screech that had Jake's heart hammering against his sternum so hard he thought it might crack.

He was able to stay ahead, but only just, moving faster than he had in his entire life, the wind roaring past his ears like it too was afraid for him.

Once he could see the thick ring of tree that surrounded his destination, he dove, falling nearly straight down.

As they approached the tree tops, Jake did not stop their dive, he felt his íkran push back in hesitation, but he pressed them forward until they were breaching the canopy. They crashed through the web of branches, paying no mind to the damage the obstacles inflicted, as they would surely choose it over whatever the Toruk had intended to do if he had caught them.

Jake couldn't keep track of their fall anymore, it was all he could do to hold on, so when they came crashing into the ground, it knocked the breath from his lungs.

He and his íkran landed in a heap, having somehow, miraculously, made it back to the Kekunan Hometree.

There was a cacophony of noise all around him, but he couldn't focus on any of it, as he felt another body collide with his own.

He almost protested as a pair of arms circled around him, pulling him tight against a chest, pressing against his ribs that felt broken, but he knew, even through the pain, whose arms he was in.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," Jake grinned up at the other man, though it might have come out as more of a grimace.

Tsu'tey pulled back, gave him a look, seeming to consider whether the joke was bad enough to warrant releasing his grip and letting him fall to the ground, but his concern won out and he ignored the comment, pulling Jake flush against his chest once more.

Jake wondered, for a moment, now that he was out of danger, how his entrance had looked to the crowd, if they had been aware of the threat he had been facing.

He didn't have to wonder long, however, when the beating of wings filled the air, signaling the return of the other racers.

"Is he alright?" The warrior who had counted them down at the cliff side, who had been in the lead before Jake had overtaken her, called out as she landed, spilling from her íkran in her hast to reach Jake.

"I'm fine," Jake said as Tsu'tey helped him to his feet, though he cringed as he put weight on his ankle, having apparently been injured in either his dive into the canopy or his crash landing.

"Someone tend to his íkran," the warrior called out, her words being answered almost immediately as several Kekunans descended upon Jake's íkran, who was took shocked from the fall to protest being handled by strangers.

"Yharu," Turon broke from the sea of Na'vi, flanked by Eytukan, Mo'at, and Neytiri, "what happened out there?"

"He was attacked by the Toruk," the warrior, Yharu, said, a hush falling over the crowd at the words, "he had taken the lead when the great beast descended upon him from high above. He managed to break away after many attempts from the Toruk to catch him in his jaws and talons, flying faster than I have ever seen until he dove into the cover of the trees. Once he escaped, we feared the Toruk would turn to us, but he simply left, flying off until we could no longer see him."

Turon was quiet for a moment, his eyes moving from Yharu to Jake, as though processing the information, before a wide grin broke across his face, turning to Eytukan, "well, it seems your warrior not only managed to best mine, but out maneuvered the Toruk while doing it. Perhaps your pride in your clan is not so ill-founded after all," He continued grinning as though this was high praise, and Jake couldn't help but revisit his previous judgment that this man was just plain odd, "I believe you have more than earned my clan as allies, and I believe your warrior has earned himself an evening to relax."

"We appreciate your cooperation," Eytukan said, his eyes conveying anything but appreciation.

"But of course, fair is fair," Turon grinned, clapping Eytukan on the back, oblivious to the wide-eyed horror the action elicited from all Omaticaya present, "now come, let us celebrate our newfound friendship."

As Turin lead Eytukan away, Jake wasn't sure how much more of this strange clan he could take, certain that this afternoon alone had shaved a number of years off his life.

Though he may have been burdened by an entirely new set of questions, he could at least feel some assurance that he now knew, when Eywa warned him of stress to come, she wasn't pulling any punches.