Iknimaya. A traditional rite of passage for every Na'vi to become Ikran Makto, a hunter, taronyu. Climbing into the legendary floating mountains of Pandora. The sight of them never failed to take her breath away. Great mountains with roots that stretched to the center of the world, now decorated the sky, weightless and mystifying. After all their years on Pandora, the scientists still had trouble explaining and believing this marvelous phenomenon. Sha'tira dismounted her direhorse, feeling the warm stone beneath her feet. She looked back down the mountain at how far they'd ridden, at the steep drop just to her right. One wrong move and her journey would be over. She took a step back and a deep breath. She had come too far to die by accidentally falling off a cliff.
Tsu'tey called them to attention and checked to make sure their weapons were secure and that they had the small sling tightened around their waist so it wouldn't fall off as they moved. They would need it for what was to come.
"Ready for this?" Jake asked, giving her shoulder a nudge with his own.
She grinned. "I was born ready, Marine."
Tsu'tey took the lead. She could feel the stone beneath her feet, the soft mossy plant life between her toes, the wind rushing through her hair. She was going to become a hunter. She was going to get an ikran! Excitement flooded her body and gave her the adrenaline rush she needed to keep up with the more seasoned soon to be hunters as they raced through this breathtaking land, climbing higher into the sky, bursting beyond the heavens. Climbing the vines was so scary and crazy that Sha'tira actually had to pause and work up the courage to jump. After all there was nothing between her and falling to her death but a thin vine. Jake's reassurances managed to help her through it. Finally, they made it to the nests and of course Tsu'tey told Jake to go first. Sha'tira paused to catch her breath as Neytiri and Jake walked along the ledge to the nests, followed by the two other recruits. All around her she could hear the ikrans screeching and the sounds of their wings flapping and rushing water. It was almost overwhelming.
"You kept up well." Tsu'tey said after they were left alone for the moment.
"Thank you." She replied.
"Remember what I showed you. Move quickly and have no fear. Do not die."
"I got this." She nodded.
"Now, let us go watch the moron die."
"After you." Sha'tira smirked. Tsu'tey lead her around the ledge. He didn't even complain when she grabbed his tail on instinct when she nearly slipped. Once that deadly little bend was rounded she was able to take in the full sight of the Ikran nests. There were thousands of them, in a myriad of colors, a sea of greens and blues to reds and even the rare purples and golds. She could even see the large green eggs in their nests along the sides of the path they chose. She looked around for an ikran for herself, wondering which one would try to kill her. What if none of them chose her? What if it did kill her?
Tsu'tey touched her tail. "Stop worrying." Came the gruff command.
"What if I don't get chosen?" She whispered.
"If an Ikran does not try to kill you...I will."
Sha'tira glared at his smirking face. "You are such an ass."
He didn't reply, too busy watching Jake swinging a sling, squaring up against the large blue Ikran that he had chosen. He snapped it at the perfect moment, locking the deadly jaws of the Ikran closed. He jumped on its back, locking his arm around its neck in a chokehold. The creature bucked and rocked, using one of its wing claws to try and grab him, but Jake was locked around its head too tightly. At one point the Ikran bucked him off, nearly throwing over the cliff and Sha'tira swore her heart nearly stopped. But the marine was not giving up. He pulled himself back up and hopped right back on.
"Tsaheylu!" Neytiri called.
"Come on, Jake!" Sha'tira cheered, joining those of the other soon to be hunters. Tsu'tey hissed at them, but she ignored him.
"Mask the bond!" Neytiri commanded.
Jake locked his legs around the Ikran's head, forcing its chin against its neck and giving himself the free space to use his hands to grab his braid and the Ikran's queue. The little pink tendrils connected and stretched themselves tight, forming the Bond.
"Stop!" Jake snapped. And the Ikran went still.
Sha'tira grinned proudly as Jake untied the sling. "First flight seals the bond. You must go now." Neytiri said, pushing him towards the edge of the cliff. "Think fly."
"Fly?" Jake screamed as the Ikran took off. Both of them fell through the air, turning, twisting and flipping like they were having a seizure. The ikran tried several times to grab onto the cliff face and Jake was left swinging in open air, struggling to hang on. Then suddenly….they were flying straight.
Sha'tira screamed and bounced up and down. Neytiri whipped past her to return to Seze and join her former apprentice in the skies. She wanted to fly with them so badly. She looked at Tsu'tey, silently asking if she was next. He simply shook his head and pushed one of the other apprentices forward. Sha'tira bit her lip, watching as each one of her friends chose and bonded with their new mount, until she and Tsu'tey were the only ones left. He finally nodded and she pulled out the sling tied to her waist. The rookery was still full of squawking Ikrans, the sounds of their cries filling the air with their piercing music. Tsu'tey shooed others away as he followed her. She looked around at all the banshees, many of which were too young and therefore too small to ride. The larger ones ran or flew away when she approached...except for one. It was a large female with dark purple and indigo colors, traces of black in the elegant designs on her skin. She was beautiful.
"Come to mama." Sha'tira smirked. She ran right up to it and hissed at it. It responded by diving at her. She barely managed to roll out of the way of its snapping jaws. She hopped away and swung the sling, snapping it around her Ikran's maw and locking it shut. That didn't stop the beast from headbutting the shit out of her. "Son of a bitch!" Tsu'tey laughed as she grabbed her face. She scrambled to her feet and rolled away as the ikran raked at the stone where she'd been moments before, trying to catch her with the claws on its wings.
"Tsaheylu!" Tsu'tey snapped.
"I know!" She yelled back, rolling away again. She took a deep breath and faced her ikran again...just as it dove off the side of the cliff. "No, no, no."
"Sha'tira! No!" Tsu'tey roared.
Sha'tira ignored him as she dove after the ikran. The wind stung her skin as she fell through open air. She could hear Tsu'tey calling her name, but the wind drowned out his words as soon as they left his lips. Besides, she was not going to let this ikran get the best of her. She didn't even know if she could choose another one. So this one, as annoying as it already was, would have to do. The ikran fell just below her, its wings tucked tight against its body as it pried her sling off its mouth, freeing powerful jaws once again. It opened its wings, fully expecting to catch the wind and soar back up to the rookery. That's when Sha'tira landed on its back.
Tsu'tey made his way down the mountains as quickly he dared without breaking his neck. Having lost sight of Sha'tira soon after she foolishly dove off the cliff, he searched for her as he made his way down, to no avail. If she was hurt...he didn't know what he would do. He reached the edge of the forest where they'd left their direhorses in record time. That's when he felt the rush of wind as Sha'tira landed next to him on the back of her new mount, a bright smile on her face.
"I did it." She grinned. He glared at her. "What?"
/
"Really, Grace?" Sha'tira sighed as her mentor pushed her into a chair and cut on the video camera. "I can't do this now, Tsu'tey said I could join the hunt today."
"Yes, you are a hunter now, but you're also still my apprentice and you have a lot of work to do here today. I know Tsu'tey is important," Sha'tira glared at the redhead as she tapped the camera. "But so is this video log."
"Tsu'tey is not important." Sha'tira replied, adjusting the camera.
"Then why does he only hunt with you now?" Grace questioned, lighting a cigarette. Sha'tira leaned back in her chair and plucked the cigarette from the redhead's lips, flicking it into the sink.
"Maybe he recognizes my superiority now." She suggested, rolling her eyes when Grace pulled out another cigarette. "Those things will kill you."
"Oh yeah? Tell me something I don't know."
A tired Jake rolled into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of chips out of the cabinet. He reached up and snatched Grace's cigarette before she could light it and tossed it into the trash before wheeling back out without a word. Grace rolled her eyes and fixed herself some coffee instead. Sha'tira smirked and turned to the camera. "Okay, um...Once a person becomes taronyu, a hunter, everything changes." After bonding with her ikran, her status in the clan had increased and as Grace had said, she was spending even more time with Tsu'tey. Whenever the future leader left Hometree to hunt or fly, she wasn't usually far behind. It wasn't that she enjoyed his company or anything of course. They just happened to make a good team. They'd spent at least a week or so making a riding harness for her ikran, whom she'd named Auggie after her irritating mentor. Then came the task of teaching her ho to fly and maneuver, as well as what new enemies and situations she would need to face while in the sky. Once that was done, the real fun began…
"Since you love to do it so much," Tsu'tey said, mounting his ikran. "Grab my tail." She automatically reached for it and he dove off the side of the giant branch they had been resting on. She grinned and mounted Aggie before taking off after him. There was nothing in the world greater than this feeling. Soaring over the forest, climbing into the clouds, gliding through the air. It was nothing like she'd ever experienced. The greatest moment in her life was the day Grace had chosen her, out of almost 300 other scientists to join her team and travel to Pandora. Flying on a large, bird-like aerial predator in the body of a 10 feet tall cyan colored humanoid on a foreign planet...came pretty damn close to beating it. This little game involved a lot of chasing, but the more she learned to fly and maneuver, the less time it took for her to catch up to her former mentor and grab his tail. And with this new way of travel, Tsu'tey was able to show her even more of his world. Even Vitraya Ramunong, the Tree of Souls. It was only a passing flyby, but Sha'tira swore she would return when she was a full member of the clan. Grace always talked about how she would die to get samples from that place. It was the Na'vi's direct line to Eywa, where the seeds of her will were born and Her connection to the forest was strongest.
"Pandora is a lot deeper than we could ever imagine." Sha'tira said to the camera. "Everything is connected, everything means so much more than we ever thought. On Earth, we focused on the surface, what the planet could do for us, what it could provide, what we could take. Well, we took everything. Here, is literally an entirely different world with a different mindset, people who treat their planet like a living, breathing thing. The way it should be treated. It's-it's...their mother. You wouldn't hurt your mother, you wouldn't steal from your mother. You protect her, take care of her. We clearly never learned our lesson."
"Never will as long as greedy fools rule the world." Grace commented from where she was looking into a microscope. "Can't count your money when you can't even breathe without an air mask."
"Unfortunately." Sha'tira agreed. "I pray to Eywa that what happened on our planet won't happen to this one. You know what, I more than pray. I'm not going to let anyone, not even my people destroy this beautiful planet."
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The thundering hooves of the sturmbeest herd seemed to shake the world. Sha'tira looked down, circling back down with Tsu'tey, watching the hunters on direhorseback chase the herd with spears and bows. Neytiri and Jake broke formation, heading to the left and she and Tsu'tey took the right, flying over the herd. She drew her bow and nocked an arrow. For a clan as large as the Omaticaya, they needed at least 5 of the great beasts. She needed to take down at least one. Tsu'tey almost spun down over the herd, shooting one of the strumbeests with barely any thought. Effortless and precise. She followed him down and chose her prize, rearing back to draw the bow. There was only one hole in the armor of this great beast. On its shoulder, there was a hole where it breathed, like its nostrils. She carefully took aim before letting the arrow fly...hitting her mark. The sturmbeest collapsed, kicking up chunks of soil in its descent. "Whoo!" She yelled.
"Hell yeah!" Jake called, making her smile. She glanced over at Tsu'tey...to see a rare smile on his face. He dipped his head respectfully...before shooting another sturmbeest in the blink of an eye.
"Asshole. Fuck you!" She yelled. A genuine laugh erupted from his throat and it shocked her so much...she almost missed the warning call and the shadow. The Great Leonopteryx came out of nowhere, on silent wings it dove out of the sky, reaching for Tsu'tey with its claws. It missed with one but grabbed his ikran with the other. With a great burst of its wings, it shot back upwards, almost throwing Tsu'tey off his ikran altogether. "No, no, no." Sha'tira quickly spun Auggie and took off after them. She could see that Tsu'tey was stabbing at the claws digging into his ikran, trying to free himself, but it seemed a pointless battle. Sha'tira attempted to fly close to him and held out her hand. He shook his head, unwilling to leave his ikran. Jake and Neytiri were following, trying to catch up to them. "Shit." She spurred Auggie upwards, passing in front of the beast. It was the yellow one, perhaps the very same that killed Cassie and took down her plane all those months ago.
The Leonopteryx roared as it caught sight of her and she leaned back, directing Auggie straight up. The creature followed, barrelling after her like a freight train. She drew her bow and nocked an arrow. Auggie spun with a silent command until she was flying almost upside down. She fired once, driving the arrow into one of Taruk's eyes, a mark that was so small she was afraid she wouldn't hit it. But she did. A pained cry shattered the sky and made her cover her ears. Auggie quickly dove towards the ground. She looked for Tsu'tey, desperate just to see that he was alive. She didn't notice that Taruk was falling until it crashed on top of her…
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She heard shouting. Grace? "Hold her still, goddamn it!" She opened her eyes, but the light was so harsh that she snapped them shut again. "Open 'em back up, Tira." Grace commanded, pulling at her eyes, but she refused to open them. She wanted to tell them to turn down the lights, but no words could come out. "Get me a sedative! Now!" Why was she yelling? What was going on? She tried to move, but her arms...felt like lead. She felt dead. "Sha'tira, can you hear me?" She wasn't sure if it was Jake or Grace this time. Everything sounded the same. Eventually she started to fade again.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but the world came crashing back when she woke up. She sat up in bed, gasping and trying to quickly search her surroundings. She was back in the lab at HQ. Grace came running to her side and quickly injected her with a syringe, easing the ache in her limbs. "What...happened?" She panted.
"You fell out of the sky, almost got crushed. The fall was enough to knock you out of your avatar body. We had to bring both of you back here to get you healed. Just lay back, take it easy."
"What about Tsu'tey? And Auggie? Are they-"
"Everyone was fine, but you." Grace said. "Although I can't be surprised." She smiled and felt of Sha'tira's forehead. "You're not exactly known to play it safe."
"Tsu'tey couldn't get free. I had to do something."
"You know, every time you leave my sight, you almost die." Grace replied.
Sha'tira smiled. "I don't plan it or anything." She moved to get up, but Grace stopped her with a firm hand on her chest. "Grace, I need to check on my avatar and Auggie."
"Your avatar is being monitored and Auggie is in good hands. Relax."
Sha'tira sighed and fell back onto the small bed she'd been placed on. She hadn't meant to go to sleep, but when she woke up she had been moved to her room and tucked into her giant four poster bed. Sometimes it was bliss to be the head bitch's favorite, but it felt weird to be back here. She wanted to be back out in the forest. It called to her. She wanted to answer it. After a little more fitful rest, she got up and bathed and got dressed. Jake and Norm came to help her get ready to fly back to their second base. She was watching Trudy run through her checks when Wainfleet approached her.
"Heard you took down a giant bird."
"Heard you were an idiot. Looks like we heard correctly." She replied.
He smirked and held up his fist. "That's badass, Doc."
She fist bumped him and shrugged. "A day in the life." He walked off, shouldering his gun and she turned to get into the chopper when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Eywa, why does everyone want to talk to me today?" She hissed, spinning to face Quaritch. "What?"
"Just heard you took a bad fall. Wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine."
"Um, everything alright here?" Norm asked. She nodded and smiled a little when he stood behind her so she wouldn't have to feel Quaritch's eyeballs on her uterus. She was used to the longing looks of the horny soldiers, but he made her feel violated with a simple look. She sighed contently as she was able to see Pandora again as they flew back to the base. She was surprised to find a visitor already waiting for them. Tsu'tey was sitting on the edge on the cliff next to his Ikran, waiting. She quickly went inside and demanded Grace put her under. The redhead took her sweet time and Sha'tira seriously struggled not to kick her as she stepped outside in her avatar body.
"Tsu'tey, what are you doing here?" She asked, flicking her tail curiously. She was happy to see that he wasn't hurt. His Ikran greeted her with a soft nuzzle on her neck so she kissed his nose. She made a mental not to give Auggie a steak later for being the best Ikran ever. Tsu'tey answered her question by presenting her with a gift. It was a new Rider's Mask, except it had been augmented with one of Taruk's large claws. He gave her new bands to wear around her wrists and ankles and a sash, all made from Taruk. She received a new knife as well, crafted from its tooth and its bone. A little bracelet was wrapped around her wrist. Small, brown and only bearing a little gray rock. She soon learned that it belonged to Tsu'tey's father, Ateyo, and it was his way of thanking her.
"The Olo'ektan wanted you to have these." Tsu'tey said. "You saved my life."
She shrugged. "I wasn't going to let you die." He looked up over her head and she followed his gaze to their little base of operations, watching Jake and Norm unpack all of Grace's equipment.
"Sha'tira of the Sky People." She immediately turned back to him when she heard him speak. "You defended us against your people, you saved my life, you helped our clan, learned our ways. Eywa...chose you. She trusts you…" He paused before meeting her eyes. "So I will too."
Her heart did a little backflip when he looked at her. It wasn't like Wainfleet or Quaritch's eyes, who looked at her like a piece of meat or a conquest. His eyes held so much more. So much more. "Really?" She was silently glad that he was willing to get rid of the whole 'demon in a false body' thing.
He nodded. "There was one last thing you must do to fully become part of the Omaticaya. Tomorrow is the ceremony."
"I'll be there."
"Thank you." He said, looking a bit uncomfortable. As a warrior prodigy it was probably a rude awakening for him to have someone else kill one of the biggest predators in the sky to save him. However she hadn't meant to kill anyone, it was all to save him really. Just him. He held out his queue to his Ikran and connected them.
"Wait, you're leaving already-" The Ikran made a quick sweep to the side, blocking them from prying eyes. Tsu'tey quickly grabbed Sha'tira's face...and kissed her. Cliche and all...sparks flew. More than sparks. Flames. He was warm to the soft. Delicious to the taste. She hardly her tail firmly entwined with his, forcing them even closer. But she didn't mind. When he leaned back, he had a look of surprise on his face and a tenderness in his eyes as he smoothed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Wow." She said softly. "I had to save your life for you to stop being an ass."
He glared at her. "You had to almost die to stop being a bitch."
"I still am." She grinned. He smiled as well. "Wow again. A genuine smile? Without someone being being in pain or miserable? I must be one hell of a kisser."
He rolled his eyes and mounted his Ikran. "You are."
"TSU'TEY!" Both of them looked up at the chopper at Jake, who was in his avatar body now. "SUP?!"
Tsu'tey drew his knife and Sha'tira quickly moved in front of him. "No, no, no, you can't kill him."
"I won't kill. Just severe a limb."
"No."
He glared at her again before ultimately leaping off the cliff, quickly disappearing into the mountains. Sha'tira glared at a smirking Jake as she went back inside and re-entered her human body. She sat up in the link chamber and touched her lips. She just couldn't help but smile.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Grace said, making adjustments on her chamber monitor, a cigarette sticking out of the right side of her mouth. "We don't have the time or the power to come back from this if anything goes wrong."
"I know." Sha'tira reached up for the cigarette and walked out with it, putting it out in Grace's ashtray that was steadily being used less and less. She knew the risks. Tsu'tey was not meant to be hers, he was destined, hadn't chosen to be Neytiri's mated pair, who was probably in the same predicament she was in. The doey eyes between her and Jake were unmistakable. They were perfect for each other. But if it was not Eywa's desire, how could they be together? If she trained harder, maybe she could take Neytiri's place...She scoffed to herself just thinking about it. "Damn you, Tsu'tey."
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