"I am Mo'at, and you may refer to me as such."Mo'at stated and Lia nodded slightly.
"I am Eytukan te Tskaha Kamun'itan, and I am the Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya Clan."Eytukan introduced himself to Lia.
"I know this means nothing to either of you in your Culture, however... because I cannot See, I know I should not say that I do see you, so I am... honored to meet you both."Mo'at and Eytukan looked at Lia in understanding and seemed pleased at how respectful she was being towards them, even if she was speaking slowly and was making small hand gestures between herself and them.
"Marali, why do you not like being touched?"Mo'at suddenly asked as Tsu'tey gave her a leaf, that was a little bigger than Lia's hand, that had slices of meat and some beetles, and Lia nodded in thanks to him before turning back to Mo'at.
"I was..."Lia trailed off, taking a shaky breath as she gestured to herself."hurt by men when I was younger, ever since then I could not stand being touched by anyone, especially men, other than... the people I trust."Lia said softly, having noticed that the chattering had quieted down when Jake stumbled into the area, following Neytiri.
Lia gestured to her Brother, who tried to get rid of the tension by making an awkward joke, only to step on some poor Na'vi woman's tail, causing Lia to wince while the Na'vi in question, hissed at Jake in pain.
"Hmm."Mo'at hummed before glancing at Tsu'tey."Treat Marali with care, Tsu'tey."Mo'at warned him and he glanced at her, clearly surprised by her warning, as was Lia, but nodded.
"These Aliens try to look like people,"Tsu'tey turned to Eytukan, deciding to ignore Lia, who decided to be quiet and eat, but she did look at Jake questionably, wondering what took him and Neytiri so long, as he was forced to sit further away from her by Neytiri."but they can't."
"He seems dim to me, unlike his Sister. And his eyes are too small."Mo'at said to Eytukan, clearly not wanting Lia to hear her, but Lia did and looked away from the trio to hide her smile."But Marali is too small."Mo'at added, and they couldn't help but glance at Lia."Marali,"Lia glanced back at them."why are you small?"Mo'at asked bluntly
"This body was made when I was younger, so it is not fully grown by your standards."Lia ignored the look of disgust she got from Tsu'tey."My real body is short as well because it has not finished growing either..."Lia suddenly gestured to Jake again."Tsyeyk believes I will not grow though. That I have finished growing."
"How old are you, Marali?"Eytukan suddenly asked.
"I was seventeen, nearly eighteen, before I came to Pandora. I was asleep for five years."Lia paused, letting the information sink in."So I am twenty-two, soon to be twenty-three."
"So, you are old enough to Mate by your people's standards, yes?"Eytukan asked, remembering Grace explaining to them that her people did not need to go through rituals to mate, other then something called wedding vows, and Lia hummed softly, nodding."And what of your Brother?"
"He is of age to take a Mate, too."Lia stated before shaking her head."But it is unlikely. He never shows interest in such things. More interested in being a Warrior, fighting wars, before he had to come home."
"Why?"Lia looked at Tsu'tey, raising an eyebrow in question."Why did he return home if it was clear he wanted to continue to be a Warrior?"Tsu'tey asked, frowning.
"I was young when our Elder Brother died, so Tsyeyk came home and took care of me."Lia answered, partly lying since it wasn't her place to tell them that Jake had become, what they call broken and useless if one could no longer walk."Elder Brother took care of me while Tsyeyk was away."
"What of your parents?"Mo'at asked, wondering where their parents had been during all of this.
"Mother was ill, died when I was much younger, Father died a Warrior, which is why Tsyeyk is a Warrior."Lia explained as best as she could.
"I am sorry you have lost so much at a young age, Marali."Mo'at stated, looking at her in sympathy.
"Thank you."Lia whispered softly, her ears pinned back and head lowered.
Later that night, Tsu'tey led Lia to where they would be sleeping. The younger grimaced as she carefully walked on the branches to the hammocks, and stopped, jumping down and landed on one with ease and full of grace.
"Showoff."Lia muttered in English and Tsu'tey looked up at her in a mixture of annoyance and arrogance.
"Hurry up, Marali Suli."
"It is not easy. We do not have trees that we can climb up and walk on, back home..."Lia stated, frowning at Tsu'tey."Not anymore at least..."Lia muttered to herself before she glanced over the edge."And I do not do well with heights..."She added, grimacing and Tsu'tey glared up at her.
Taking a deep breath, Lia bent down and grabbed the lower branch and twisted her body as she turned around and hung onto said branch before letting go to drop, rather clumsily into the hammock, a small squeak leaving her lips as she did.
Sitting up, she turned around and glanced at Tsu'tey, who was staring at her."You are like a child. Clumsy."She glared at him before she decided to ignore him and lied down, facing away from him. Lia saw a Na'vi, that was lying in a hammock not too far from her, touching the hammock, pulling on it slightly, only to let go as it started to close on its own, and she copied the Na'vi before closing her eyes.
Lia groaned tiredly as she pushed the lid open and slowly sat up."Lia's out of the Link!"Max, who had been waiting beside her Link Unit, said, drawing everyone's attention to her.
"Oh thank god!"Grace exclaimed, looking relieved as she rushed over with Norm and Jake following behind her."You were dug in like a tick."Grace said as she placed her hands on Lia's shoulders."Jake told me what happened. Are you ok?"The redhead asked, looking at Lia in pure concern.
"Yeah, I'm ok."Lia said in a slightly raspy voice."Can I get some water though?"Grace just nodded, smiling at her.
Later, at the cafeteria, the Sully Siblings were sitting with Max, Grace, Norm, and a few of the other scientists, listening to Grace retell the story of how the Siblings had been separated from the group and ended up in the care of the Omatikaya Clan.
"The last thing we see is this Marine's ass"Grace gestured to Jake, who smirked slight."disappearing through the brush, dragging his Little Sister,"She made a gesture to Lia, who giggled."with this angry Thanator coming after them."Everyone was laughing at them.
"Hey, it's not something you can teach."Jake stated, shrugging with a smug look on his face.
"What? Being stupid and touching things like a child?"Lia questioned him and yelped when he hit her on the arm."Ow, that hurt! Abuse, I call abuse!"Everyone laughed harder and shook their heads at the young brunette.
"You know, for some reasons I cannot fathom, the Omatikaya have chosen you. God help us all."Grace said to Jake, causing another round of laughter from the group, with the exception of Norm."At least she understands and can speak the language."She added, nodding to Lia.
"How many times do I have to say it? I can understand Na'vi more than I speak it."Lia stated, frowning at Grace.
"Your Na'vi is fine, it's just the big words you struggle with."Grace said dismissively."Besides, at least you won't let your Brother make a big ass of himself."
"Yeah, I think if it wasn't for Lia, I would already be dead."Jake added in his two cents.
As the conversation carried on, Lia noticed that Norm had been staring at her and Jake with envy, which made her mood drop, as she had been on the receiving end of people's envy for a long time, because either she was beautiful, or a prodigy among her peers.
Lia's attention was drawn away from Norm when she saw Trudy walking towards them and she gave the Pilot a small wave, which Trudy returned but turned her attention to Jake, telling him that Colonel Miles Quaritch wanted to speak with him, again. The younger Sully stared after her Brother in confusion and watched, along with Grace, whose eyes had narrowed, as Jake wheeled after Trudy, following her to where the Colonel was waiting for him, before Grace looked back at Lia questionably.
"I don't know. Honest."Lia said, frowning."But I will talk to him."Grace merely nodded.
~~~Preview~~~
~~~Na'vi Hierarchy & Lessons Begin~~~
"She is a beautiful Pa'li."Lia said as she came to stand next to Tsu'tey, looking at the Direhorse in awe, not noticing that Tsu'tey was staring at her, rather than the Direhorse.
"Yes, she is."Tsu'tey agreed, watching as Lia placed her hand on the side of the Direhorse, running said hand along said side.
Lia looked back at Tsu'tey."Does she have a name?"