Kali left her ilu in the shallows where she'd be safe and trekked up the beach, focused on her bow. For some reason seeing it altered thusly upset her. She didn't want to be a sea person. She began gently prying at the shells set into it now before realizing that he'd also replaced the bowstring itself with sinews from what looked like an ilu. She threw it in the ground in a fit of grief and began climbing the trunk of the first tree that was big enough for what she wanted.
Everything had changed too fast for Kali to cope, and now here she was alone with it. Even Lo'ak had gotten past his awkwardness already. Tuk was happy and she'd been the one crying that first week at night. Seated in the vines, she lay on her back in the thick moss, eyes closed. The sunlight that did manage to get through created a warm pattern across her face that did little to soothe Kali's wildly beating heart. "What do I do?" She asked, praying for an answer like Kiri always got. Eywa spoke to her and Kali knew it. How could she not? They were twins. As always, Kali got no answer. Itching to be understood she began to make her way through the tree tops.
If Kali wasn't allowed to be with the spirit tree the Metkayina had built around, maybe another tribe in the forest would let her speak to Eywa. I will find the inner peace Kiri was born with and it will be okay.
x
Zekhan was struggling a bit to keep up with Thrall's brutal pace. "Are you alright?" He called out to the orc with much longer legs. "I am growing concerned about your urgency."
"I've seen and heard about one too many orcs falling to a power they should've scorned because they felt alone and trapped or didn't know what else to do to feel strong enough." Thrall shared his troubles at last and Zekhan understood in an instant.
"You think she might betray her people and go to the mad man?" He was a little incredulous, having felt her vulnerability on the way back to her village. "I don't think-"
"Zappy...Kiri doesn't need us. She isn't the reason we were brought here. We can help them, but I think Kali needs something only a shaman can teach. And I don't mean a tsahik." He glanced back at Zekhan. "She only reminds me of Durak because I see someone young at a crossroads. Soon Durak will grow and start the same rites of initiation. It just looks different here. As much as I don't understand the Sully man, I too am a father. I will not let his child come to harm."
Zekhan found his voice again. "But betraying her family?"
"The way the Sully man described their enemy... he is a master manipulator. It used to be his job. Still is. She's confused and feeling alienated, Zekhan. It's easy to convince a teenager in that state to do pretty much anything you might want."
Zekhan was about to speak again when they heard scared animal cries closer to the water than they'd been walking. Thrall sighed. "I'll take care of it. You go after Kali. Please keep in mind what I said. She is probably feeling bitter and unheard." Zekhan watched him began sprinting up the coast and around a curve in the land, out of sight.
x
Spider wasn't liking traveling with his dad. At least, not at first. He hated how Kiri had screamed for him as he got left behind. The pain and fear in her heart tore at the deepest parts of him. He never wanted to hear such a sound ever again. Now they were trying to hunt down a toruk for Quaritch. Quaritch had to do everything better than Jake. Spider was beginning to wonder if the colonel didn't want Jake Sully to suck him off, the way he acted about him. Maybe he wants to suck Sully off. The thought put a smirk on Spider's face.
Yet...the longer Spider spent with the man he'd been named for at birth the more he began to wonder what could've been if Colonel Quaritch wasn't such an ass. If he hadn't died or Spider just hadn't been left behind.
They were nearing the toruk roost now, and Spider hoped they wouldn't run into any Na'vi. He didn't want to see anyone die. Or even just have a gun pointed in their face. They might not have ever truly accepted him, but he was fine with that. He had Kiri and they didn't totally accept her either. They began to crouch until they came upon the edge of the cliff and one of the Colonel's lackeys began to load a tranquilizer gun, which they handed over.
Spider couldn't help the snort that rose unbidden from his chest. "What?"
"I've seen Na'vi children less than half my age do this with their bare hands."
Before it could go any further, Wainfleet tapped Quaritch on the shoulder and pointed down to where the toruk were living. "Ain't that one of Sully's brats?"
Spider stiffened along his spine, seeing the movement before his dad did. "Don't even think about, kid." Quaritch warned him, slinging the tranquilizer over his back and going down the cliff quietly. Spider bit his lip, trying to ignore the guns at his back. He had to do something. As he was about to I attempt breaking free, he saw it. Something none of the seasoned soldiers had. There was a blue man with tusks in the trees on the cliff above them, keeping pace with Quaritch. Quaritch was being hunted, too. He saw Spider looking at him and held one finger to his lips. How does he know I don't want to be here? Spider smirked, deciding to do as he asked. Better watch out, old man.
x
Zekhan had been tracking Kali for two days by the time he realized he was catching up. For whatever the reason, she was slowing down as they grew closer to the floating islands and the cliffs below them. She was incredibly close to another group the whole time and didn't seem to realize it. The second day as she got closer to her destination and was almost at a snail's pace, he realized she and the other Na'vi were going to the same place. This presented a potential problem because for a survivalist and shaman like Zekhan, it was clear they weren't together. The group running parallel to her had a human with them, for starters. Then there was the fact they had no reverence at all for the nature around them. In fact they were trampling several plants on their way through the undergrowth.
He could finally see Kali, two cliffs below. She was talking to one of the flying mounts, speaking in a low voice. Behind her stalked one of the armed Na'vi that didn't act like Na'vi. The more Zekhan observed him from above, the more he became convinced this was the Quaritch Jake Sully had warned them of when the sea tribe chief allowed them to stay while Saurfang recovered.
Kali hadn't noticed him yet, and he was pulling a gun off his back, lining up a shot. Zekhan jumped, using the multiple wind spirits present around him to slow his fall just enough not to break his shins when he landed full force on Quaritch's shoulders. Then he immediately turned and threw up a wall of earth to block the incoming hale of bullets. Kali was startled, grabbing Zekhan and yanking him with her onto the creature, which she connected her braid to. "Hold on!" She leapt off the cliff, going straight down and pulling into a wicked dive.
Zekhan gripped her waist and leaned into her back, closing his eyes and letting the wind whip past them both as it pulled his hair even more up than it already was. "You are a difficult girl to find."
She didn't say anything, pulling up from the harsh drop and settling into a more straight path. "We should go back." He tried gently urging her.
Kali sighed, shoulders drooping in front of him. "I can't. There is something I have to do if I want to keep living with myself."
"What would that be?" Zekhan asked, his curiosity sparked.
Kali hesitated and then copped out. "It's my spirit quest. You're obviously spiritual. Surely you understand the importance of such a thing. It's my rite of passage. I will not be denied it because my family is afraid."
"Are you not? There is a madman out for you and your kin. It's dangerous." He tried to keep level and not be to pushy, recalling Thrall's words.
"No. Little scares me anymore." She was pulling in for a landing, spiraling gently downward.
"Why?"
A little annoyed perhaps or maybe just exasperated, Kali spoke. "Because I've died before. I know what there is. Eywa isn't the only thing waiting for people after death. Strangely enough, I find comfort in the idea that...there is more than just what my tribe knows. That said, since that occurrence I have felt nothing but lost. I'm done feeling lost. I'm ready to step completely out of childhood. Long past ready, but my family wasn't having it just yet."
Zekhan watched her disconnect from the flying creature and wander over the base of the tree they had landed by. She leaned back against the trunk and curled up into a fetal position. "Please don't bother me. This is going to be difficult enough."
x
Zekhan watched Kali for hours, and at first it seemed like she was just sleeping. Except... Kali's chest barely rose and fell with breath. It was concerning, but he was a shaman and recognized deep meditative states when he saw them. That said, Kali Sully looked dead. He didn't want to interrupt because he did understand the importance of spiritual quests, so Zekhan kept himself busy by doing his own meditations. The elemental spirits surrounding him were unique. For starters there were so very many here, in comparison to Azeroth. They were also a lot more curious about him, as if they knew he could see them; sense them.
The more he did this the more amazed Zekhan became by just how... alive Pandora was. It was as if the planet lived and breathed for itself, rather than just the things on it. So he waited patiently, passing time listening to the heartbeat of the land.
x
It had been nearly five days now since he and Zekhan split at the shore. Thrall was being widely hailed as a hero of the sea people for as it turned out, the creature he had saved from being poached was called a tulkun, which held extreme spiritual significance to the Metkayina tribespeople.
Saurfang was definitely better, but he still wasn't awake. He moved and stirred, took the broth the tsahik dribbled down his throat, but did not wake. Thrall was unsurprised, considering he and his companions had thought the old orc doomed when he took that foul magic straight to the chest. He kept assisting the tsahik and her apprentice as they administered medicine and tried to get used to all the sudden fame, especially among the older sea people. Some of them cried with gratitude for what he'd done. Thrall didn't like thinking about the blood of that poor creature, gushing as it screamed in agony. The poachers he'd killed. They were monsters, intending to waste the life of a sentient being for a few ounces of a fluid.
The tensions within the sea people were mounting though and he secretly hoped Zekhan would get back with every passing second. He didn't like the four of them being split in such a strange land. At least Anduin was taking to the scenario well enough. Thrall though...he just desperately wanted to be home with his wife and child. I smell another war. And I want no part of it.