Hello and long time no see,
I'm not gone and I'm not done with my stories.
There has been some big changes in my life, becoming a parent is one of them if not the biggest one.
Because of that I wont have much time to write, but I'm not abandoning my stories.
Hopefully I'll be able to update OSaB soon, but I can't really tell.
I really want to dedicate my time to writing more, as I also want to write my own book.
I'm native Greenlandic and I've been wanting to write down our old stories and legends in story form, the way my grandfather told them to me.
I hope it would be something the world is interested in.
In the near future I plan to set u n, in the hopes that I'll be able to at some point write full time.
A small dream of mine...
Welp! Enough about me! Here's chapter 4 of Eywa's will.
Chapter 4 - The school
Translated Na'vi to english is written in Italic
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"Tanhitu! Ke tslolam!" one of the Na'vi children complained.
"What don't you understand, Ralu?" Hari asked the Na'vi child sitting with a book in his lap.
"I don't understand this word!" Ralu complained.
Hari looked over the word Ralu was trying to translate.
The school had been open for a while now and things were going surprisingly well.
It was a big change for the young Na'vi to try to be in an earth-style school with a blackboard, books and everything. They didn't sit down most of the time though, only if there was something specific they needed all to see, otherwise the kids were free to sit how they wanted, as long as they worked on the class material.
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From the day when Mo'at and Grace had come up with the idea of opening a school to the schools opening had taken a lot more time that they thought or would've liked, Mo'at and Grace that is.
First off, it had been harder to start the school than they thought and it had taken around a year just to get everything in order and finish the preparations. Harry felt like what took the longest was to get all the paperwork that Drennek deemed necessary for it to be cleared.
Bureaucracy; the enemy of all and everything.
Luckily, Harry having experience with working with schools helped quite a bit with their proposed lesson plans and they had gotten the clearance. After that, they had gotten the school built in a small clearing just outside the border of RDA-controlled land, in agreement with the Omatikaya clan.
However, they also had to postpone it even further as Mo'at was expecting and later gave birth to another girl, who they gave the name Neytiri.
While all of the preparation was going on, Harry and Grace still visited the Omatikaya.
After visiting for so long the Na'vi had gotten used to them even though they were technically still outsiders.
There seemed to be several rituals involved but the main one, to become a recognized adult was to go through Uniltaron, The Dream Hunt; a rite of passage, in which the Na'vi would seek their spirit animal.
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Harry arrived at Hometree without Grace, since she had more samples than she could handle at the moment and Drenneck had ordered her to get some research done since it was what they had hired her for. Sullenly she had stayed behind and worked on her book on Pandoran flora.
Walking towards the giant tree Harry greeted the Na'vi hunters he saw on the way.
They greeted him with smiles, and some with laughter calling out 'Ikramokriyä' as he passed, making him stick his tongue out at them, eliciting a laugh in return. He noticed that the Na'vi who were normally out at this time or occupied seemed to be gathered at Hometree which was out of the ordinary at this time of day but he didn't have much time to think about it as someone suddenly shouted his name as he looked as Sylwanin came running towards him and grabbed his hand.
"Oel ngati kameie!" She said with a smile.
Harry smiled back at the girl who over the last months had started to follow him around whenever he was visiting.
"I see you, Sylwaning." He said back. He didn't get a chance to say more as she started to pull him towards the center of the tree where he first met Eytukan and Mo'at.
"Come, Ha'ri! Come! Mom is waiting!" She said excitedly.
He couldn't help but laugh. She was a cute and friendly girl who had wanted to teach Harry everything she knew, which had been quite a bit, honestly, but most of all they had bonded, especially over her attempts to teach Harry how to sing. The clan still couldn't talk about that without laughter. They had thought that there was a dying ikran nearby. Not his proudest moment. It had even gotten him the nickname ikramokriyä, Ikran Voice…
"Sylwanin! Let the poor boy go!" Was said with a laugh.
Sylwaning and Harry looked up to see Mo'at walking down towards them with Neytiri in her arms.
"Mom, I brought Ha'ri!" Sywanin said with a big smile still not letting go.
"Thank you." Mo'at said in english with a smile, "I see you Ha'ri."
"I see you." Harry replied, touching his brow and doing an outward sweep in greeting.
"Ah, Ikramokriyä, good to see you." Eytukan said as he came down the spiral tree core, earning him a narrowed look from Harry, in turn making Eytukan chuckle.
"He still doesn't want to learn English?" Harry asked Mo'at.
"No, he's too… what's the word? Stubborn." Mo'at smirked at Eytukan as she answered Harry, making Eytukan grumble and walk towards one of the fires to talk with some of the hunters as they were cleaning their bounty.
"It is good you are here Ha'ri. We have something important to do." Mo'at told him.
"Oh?" Harry asked.
"My people," Mo'at said loudly getting the attention of the Na'vi who all seemed to have waited for this. "As you know, some of our children will go to a skypeople school to learn more about them as well as the sky people learning more about us. This is part of building a bridge of understanding between us! As part of faith, both of my children, Sylwaning and Neytiri, will go to the school."
There were yips and nods of agreement all around at this and it seemed her support of the idea eased some tension other Na'vi might have had, but what she said next removed any doubt or worry they had.
"The one in charge of teaching our children about the skypeople is, as many of you have been thinking, Ha'ri!"
More yips and shouts at this as more Na'vi smiled, having gotten to know the strange Na'vi that had become a stable visitor and a good source of fun.
"Since he will be a teacher for our children, I will bestow upon him a name!"
This made Harry turn his head to look at her. He hadn't known that and by her smirk, he knew that she knew that he knew the importance of this. His heart felt like it had grown a size in pure pride and happiness.
"But he already has a name!" Someone shouted, making everyone laugh, even Harry had to smile and shake his head at this.
"Yes, it's true and I will not take this name away from him but I do believe that he should have a name more fitting for a teacher." Mo'at smiled at the gathered Na'vi as they calmed down.
Mo'at looked at him before turning towards her people.
"Even though you came from the place of the skypeople you're not a dreamwalker, you are more than that. You have knowledge and understanding and just like the clear sky at night, you're bright as the stars above. From this day, he is Tanhitu, the first of your family."
Harry's eyes widened. If his understanding of Na'vi was correct he was now Harry of the Starpeople. It was more than a name, it was that he was recognized as a Na'vi, still not Omatikaya but a person nonetheless.
There were cries and yips as well as shouts of Tanhitu and Ikramokriyä in greeting. Na'vi's came up to hug him in congratulations and others patted him on the shoulder, even the stoic Eytukan was cracking a smile.
As it calmed down and people went on with their duties Harry went with Mo'at and Eytukan to sit at their fire.
"Thank you." Harry said, breaking the silence.
"It should be us that are thanking you, Tanhitu. You try to understand our ways while teaching us about the skypeople, without trying to change our ways. Your knowledge is a gift."
"It is true," Eytukan chimed in, "You are not like those skxawng sawtut-" He didn't finish receiving a slap on the shoulder, courtesy of Mo'at.
"Behave." She told him but her smile took the harshness out of it.
"Even if I'm Olo'eyktan, I too listen to the wisdom of my mate. Choose wisely when it's your turn." Eytukan said with a smile as he took a sip of water from a bowl.
Harry had just opened his mouth to answer Eytukan when a young voice rang out.
"There is no need for him to choose! We will be mated in the future!" It was Sylwaning who had run up to them and hugged Harry from behind.
Harry's eyes widened at this and his whole body tensed, but the biggest reaction came from Eytukan who choked on the water, resulting in him coughing and sputtering.
Mo'at closed her eyes and smiled a strained smile as she sighed.
"Haven't we talked about this before, Sylwanin?" She said as she opened her eyes and gave her daughter a look.
"Yes, you said he wasn't one of the people but know you gave him a name, so no problem!" Sylwanin answered her mother as she snuggled into Harry's back.
"Ha'ri!" Eytukan finally said after coming down from his coughing fit. "What have you done to my daughter?!"
Again, Harry didn't get to answer as the two females took control of the situation.
"He hasn't done anything!" They both said as one.
"He's perfect for me!" Sylwaning stated as she hugged him tighter.
"She's infatuated… It's just a phase dear." Mo'at tried to placate her mate.
"It better be!" Eytukan stated as he crossed his arms and glared daggers at Ha'ri. "Sylwanin is the future tsahik and is destined to be mated with the future Olo'eyktan, Tsu'tey te Rongloa Ateyitan. It has been decided."
"No!" Was all Sylwaning said as she let go, stood up, walked around Harry, and sat down in his lap, to the grumbling of Eytukan and the sighing of Mo'at.
Bloody hell, Harry thought to himself.
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The relationship between Harry and Eytukan was strained from that time.
Eytukan tolerated Harry but didn't speak much to him.
Harry tried to distance himself from Sylwanin, but that seemed to be an impossible task. He had talked with Mo'at about it and she had given him the advice to just let the girl be since him distancing himself would make her pursue him more. Letting her be would calm her down and she would get over her infatuation soon.
Harry hoped that it was true.
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The school was doing well.
In the beginning, Mo'at observed the classes but after a month, Mo'at deemed that the school was acceptable and didn't come anymore, though there was always an adult Na'vi present.
Grace and Harry did their best to make it interesting and fun while making sure the kids got to be active. They learned about earth games and earth history as well as English.
Their star student was Sylwanin, who was growing into a beautiful young Na'vi and she seemed to be doing her best to impress Harry. This was both good and bad.
Good because her drive helped keep up motivation for others and bad since Tsu'tey seemed to like Harry less and less, which Harry could understand since he and Sylwanin were meant to be mated. It was obvious that Tsutey liked her, though Sylwanin seemed to care less than nothing about the young Na'vi boy.
Harry had one time overheard them argue. Tsutey had told her that she should forget about Harry, grow up, and do what her parents said, what was best for her. She had told Tsutey that she didn't care. Tsutey told her that she couldn't be mated to a skyperson
Harry did her best not to show favoritism, but since she was the best in class he couldn't just ignore her accomplishments. It was a fine balance and he made sure he didn't show any interest in her but she still seemed to like him.
She had even become a bit bolder as she would hug him a bit longer than necessary as well as small touches and looks. Harry knew that he had to do something soon, when one day she had pecked his cheek in goodbye but a part of him hoped that Mo'at's words were true so he ended up doing nothing.
As time passed other children joined the school when they were old enough, such as Neytiri, Sylwanin's sister, and a few other young Na'vi while the oldest of them stopped after becoming taronyu, hunters.
Outside of school tension between humans and Na'vi was growing.
The RDA had started becoming more aggressive in removing trees as part of their mining operation.
Harry and Grace tried to help keep the peace, but they had no way to defend the actions of the RDA or any power to stop them. Mo'at did her best to understand, but Grace and Harry could feel the frustration grow when they visited Hometree as some Na'vi started to avoid them.
It was very close that Harry didn't even get to see Sylwanin's initiation to become a hunter and it was only as Sylwanin's insistence that Eytukan had allowed Harry to witness it.
Then slowly it started to impact the school as the children were affected by their parents' questions and frustrations. They tried to avoid 'politics' in the classroom but both Harry and Grace knew something was going to happen soon, though they didn't know how or what.
Sylwanin had been a blessing as she did her best to help keep the peace but Harry could tell that she was becoming frustrated as well.
She started to become quieter and hung back after class to talk to him. Her hanging back was normal but her questions were becoming more and more worrying and desperate, as if she hoped he would be able to change the situation or even stop the RDA. He could tell she was becoming frustrated with his answers and his inability to do anything.
Then one day it all came down.
The RDA had started to remove trees and excavate a certain part of the forest that was one of Sylwanin's favorite places to go. Sylwanin had been distraught and confronted him, telling him to do something and stop them. Harry sighed and told her that they had had this argument before and that he had done what he could.
Sylwanin had huffed in frustration and told him that he had to do more, to which he had been quiet, which frustrated the young hunter even more as they both became quiet before Sylwanin started to ask questions in a different direction; how to take down the machines.
Harry had looked at her with wide eyes and saw the seriousness held in her eyes.
"It won't help." Harry started, "You'll only get hurt."
She scoffed at him.
"How do you know? You're no hunter, no warrior. You're a teacher, you know nothing of fighting." Sylwanin told him, her arms crossed as she looked away.
"Sylwanin," She flinched at the softness in his voice, "I don't want you to do something that you'll regret."
"Regret!" Apparently it was the wrong thing to say, "I will not regret fighting for the forest, or Eywa!" Sylwanin raised her voice, "You're supposed to be my future mate, my muntxa, fight for us!"
"It's a fight you can't win!" Harry countered, "It will only escalate the tension that's already there! It will be like fire touching tree sap! If no one stops it it can burn down the forest, hunting Eywa even more!"
"Don't speak like you know the will of Eywa." Sylwanin her voice turning cold, "Tsutey was right. You might look like Na'vi but now I see that your heart is still that of a skyperson. I thought you were my muntxa, but you don't truly see."
She turned and ran with tears down her cheeks as Harry called out to her, but he knew he would never catch up to her. Sighing in defeat he returned to the empty school.
Harry's eyes met Grace as she cleaned up the classroom. She gave him a sad smile, having heard everything.
"I guess you're not her future mate anymore?" She tried to lift the mood with a bit of humor.
"I guess so…" Harry sighed.
Harry and Grace had done all they could but they also knew that they couldn't push the issue too much since mining the unobtanium was what was funding everything. It had gotten even harder as Drennek had left Pandora and the young Parker Selfridge had taken command of Hell's Gate.
Harry and Grace knew they had to play it safe since one word from Selfridge could close down the avatar project, the school, and everything they worked for.
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Sylwanin didn't turn up for school the next day, or the next, or the next, neither did some of the older students.
Harry was starting to get worried. He had even visited Hometree but it was obvious that Sylwanin was avoiding him and no one wanted to help him. On the other hand, some seemed happy at the rift that seemed to have formed if Tsutey and his friends' smirks were anything to go by.
As the days went by Harry was starting to accept that the friendship he had with the young Na'vi was truly over when his worst fears became true.
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The day was like any other. Grace was teaching the kids basic color theory while Harry was helping some of the children mix the natural dye they were using to paint when they heard a commotion from the edge of the forest and coming closer to the school.
"Harry, did y-" Grace started, but she was cut off.
"Stay here, I'll go." Harry said as he stood and went outside.
As he went out he scanned the forest edge when he saw a group of Na'vi come barrelling out of the treeline. He narrowed his eyes as they were all dressed in warrior paint and armed with bows, but what shocked him was when he recognized the leader of the small group.
"Sylwanin?" He said out loud.
"Ha'ri!" She shouted out as she came running up to the school.
"Wha-" He didn't get farther as she hugged him, hard.
"Srung! Help!" She pleaded, out of breath.
"All of you, get inside!" He told them in what could only be described as a stern teacher's voice. The young hunters just nodded and left Sylwanin holding on to Harry.
Sylwanin took a couple of deep breaths as she held on to him, shaking slightly in his arms as he helped her inside.
Grace as well as the other children looked wide eyes at them as they entered.
"Harry?" Grace asked.
"Grace, get the children out and back towards Hometree, now!" Harry told her.
Grace didn't understand, but the urgency in Harry's voice made her just nod in agreement as she got the children up and headed out.
"I'll be back soon," Grace told him. She turned to him before she went out the door, "Don't do anything stupid, okay?" and she was gone.
When only Harry and the warrior-painted hunters were left in the school he looked at them.
"What's going on." It wasn't a question but a command.
The hunters all looked at Sylwanin who finally let go of Harry and looked at him.
"I didn't know where else to go."
After their fight, she and her friends started spying on the mining operation closest to them and after days of watching trees being torn down, animals killed and the forest floor destroyed they decided that enough was enough.
They had singled out a bulldozer and attacked but they quickly realized that their arrows did nothing, so in a desperate attempt and with the use of plants that they had learned from Grace, they had managed to set the bulldozer on fire which finally seemed to stop it.
It was then RDA reinforcements arrived and they wasted no time in opening fire on them.
They had managed to escape into to forest but the RDA was hot on their tail.
Not knowing what to do, they decided to go to the school in the hope that Harry could protect them.
Shaking his head Harry looked at them. They were young and foolish but what they did would have bigger consequences than they realized.
"Did you think it through?" Harry asked them, "That by coming here you could've put the children at risk?"
It took a second but they seemed to pale at this. They hadn't thought about it, but Sylwanin looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
"But you wouldn't let anything happen to them! To us!" She said.
"Sylwanin, I don't know how to protect you from this. You've declared war on the RDA and put not just yourself but the Omatikaya at risk. The skypeople will not sit still."
"You don't want to help!" She shouted, tears falling from her eyes.
"Sylwanin-" He didn't get farther as she turned and walked out the school.
Harry followed her out.
They didn't get far as a platoon of soldiers exited the forest in front of them.
What happened next went by so fast Sylwanin didn't even register it until it was too late.
She saw the soldiers raise their guns and at the same moment she felt a hand grab her arm and she was thrown inside the school as gunfire rang out.
The warriors that followed her ran to her side and as they helped her sit up she looked out the open door and was frozen in shock.
Harry was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.
Seconds went by when she suddenly screamed.
Pain, nothing but pain. Her chest felt like it was being torn apart. She had been angry with him but she knew that the anger was because she still loved him. She knew that people thought he was too old for her, that her mom thought it was 'just' an infatuation and young phase but she had loved him and now she had gotten him killed.
She screamed
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The soldiers looked at the school.
"Well fuck. I think that was the teacher." The platoon leader said.
"The guy stuck in the avatar?" Another asked.
"Fuck… Apone will have our necks for this…"
The platoon gulped as one but their worry didn't last long as a scream of pain turned into a scream of fury and they hoisted their weapons once more.
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Sylwanin was inconsolable, her friends didn't know what to do but try and hold her.
Her eyes were wide open as she stared at where Harry lay. Slowly she looked up to where the soldiers were and her sadness and pain turned into anger.
She screamed, her cry filled with hate as she slowly stood and pulled out her knife.
Without a word her fellow warriors followed her actions, filled with anger over the death of a teacher they all respected and with a warcry they ran out of the school in a desperate attack.
They didn't get far as the soldiers opened fire.
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Laying on the ground, drawing ragged breaths, Sylwanin slowly dragged herself over to Harry.
There was so much she wanted to tell him but she had no time.
Darkness seemed to creep at the corners of her eyes and her body felt heavier and colder.
Then she saw something that gave her an idea, even though she knew it was forbidden, but she didn't care.
With the last of her energy she grabbed her hair by the end of her kuru and reached it towards Harry's.
"Forgive me Ha'ri, please forgive me." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Eywa, mother of all, I beg of you! Let him not pay for my mistake. Give to him what I have left, no matter how little. The only thing I all for myself is to let me say goodbye."
As everything faded to black she saw their kuru's intertwine and she felt the connection, it was faint but it was there, he was still there.
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Grace was on her way back to the school when she heard the gunfire.
Realizing what she heard she started running as fast as she could.
As she reaches the glade she sees the last Na'vi fall face down onto the ground.
"Stop!" She screamed, making the soldiers raise their guns at her.
"Guns down!" The commander shouted as he saw Grace.
"Ms. Augustine?" He asked.
"Where's Harry?" She asked as she walked up to the soldiers.
The soldiers looked uncomfortably at each other, making Grace widen her eyes in fear and understanding.
"No." She gasped, "No, no, no."
"Ms. Augustine, please calm down." the commander tried.
"Where is he, let me see him."
"Ms. Augustine, the perimeter isn't safe, we need to leave."
"We're not leaving without Harry!"
She started to push her way through them when she felt something hit her neck. She reached up and pulled out a small dart.
"You fucking a-" Grace didn't get farther as the tranquilliser kicked in and she fell unconsciously to the ground.
"This is a fucking mess." The commander said as he rubbed his neck
"What are we going to do?" Over of his troops asked, worry coloring his voice.
"Give me a sec!" The commander bit back. "Okay, here's what we'll do. We're gonna get ourselves one of the hexapedes we saw not far from here, gut it and spread it so the viperwolves will clean up here. Then we'll tell that the insurgents came to the school and killed the teacher before we managed to get to them, got it!"
The platoon nodded. They didn't want to get into trouble and even if one of them didn't like the idea they didn't want to be the snitch. Hell's Gate was small and you didn't want to be the odd one out.
"Good," the command nodded at his unit, "Tackleberry, Jones, get me a hexapede. Mouser, Proctor, Harris you get a stretcher so we can get Ms. Augustine's avatar back to base. Come on people, go, go, go!" He clapped his hands and the unit set into motion.
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Wake up, child. Wake up. I see you.
Harry opens his eyes.
It was night in the forest of Pandora