Chapter 12: Demons Departure
Sylwanin watched the demons slink back into the darkness, every nerve in her body set ablaze in fury that was only barely held back by the state of her father. She couldn't understand why he had agreed to the rite, they could have beaten them; their leader had been here with only a handful of their warriors. They could have killed them all; they had outnumbered them ten to one!
Finally the elder healers came, shooing away her and Neytiri from him, but they did not protest. Gingerly they pulled the cloth away from the wound as Eytukan groaned and quickly they packed the stump with moss before it released too much blood.
Clearly that creature had cheated somehow; there is no way Eywa would have allowed her champion to lose! He had been the greatest warrior among them, his Vitra-Tswal the most powerful. If it had been fair that walking abomination and it yellow eyed demons would all be dead.
And their eyes had been yellow and their leader had been a corpse. The vision had been true, Eywa had gifted her a message of death and destruction and the hands of those things and the man who helped them.
She wanted to scream, to accuse him and show the people that he had betrayed them. Nothing else could explain it, these being could not have known of the rite unless he told them! He was the one who was responsible for all this, he who had filled her father's mind with lies, that he had been the reason he had lost!
But as she looked at her father, who had always looked the very image of strength now looked so weak. His skin growing pale and eyes unfocused as the healers pulled him away to his chambers and left her to look upon the uncertain and fearful eyes of her people. That image tempered her rage, if only enough to not run across the clearing and rip him apart. The people, her people were afraid and speaking of treachery aloud would do nothing but hurt her tribe and she knew her stupid sister would try to defend him as she always had.
She shook her head; after all this she still loved her sister, despite how much she hated it.
So instead she focused her rage outward, towards the Tipani's Olo'eyktan and his so called warriors had had remained silent the entire time. Silent as her father fought for Eywa!
"You" she cried out, pointing a finger at them "Why did you do nothing"
The Tipani paused, looking at her impassively as their leader spoke.
"We came to see the humans… and so we have. Their conflict was with your people not mine" he answered, looking down at her like some unruly child as he smiled and her temper flared.
"They wish to defile Eywa" she spat; she knew these people had defiled her laws but she couldn't even begin to understand their flippant disregard.
"As you said, who am I to speak of her laws" he answered as some of his warriors chuckled and he as well as rest of the Tipani walked away, leaving the Omaticaya to their wounded leader and Sylwanin to snarl at their passing.
This would not stand, the humans would pay for this!
Zao finally let his shoulders slacken as he plopped down into the seat of the shuttle; allowing himself to limp once out of sight of the natives and having sister Ophelia help him walk by her request.
He had down it; it had nearly cost him his life but he had down it. The guns of humanity would not be turned on the alien, at least for now. And his hands could for now remain unstained by their blood.
It had not come without cost though as the migraines that clawed at his mind sank their claws ever deeper. The jet had one its job but as well had over stressed his brain.
"Sir the ship is leaking!" screamed executive officer Chang as the warning lights and sirens blared across the Yangtze!
"What" Zao said, momentarily dazed as to where he was before he saw Ophelia looking up at him.
"I said your nose is bleeding" she repeated as Zao felt the warm flow of blood coming from his nose.
"Thank you" he said, whipping away the blood and trying to steady his breath as he came back to reality.
Meanwhile sister Ophelia slowly pulled off his boot. It was not a pretty sight; tendons and muscles visibly shifted as part of his foot was exposed, the skin having peeled away. And that was all before his duel with the Na'vi leader.
"It is only dislocated sir" she said, appraising the injured limb, her power armored fingers doing little to lower her dexterity.
Zao was surprised by her lack of reaction; most would have gagged or at least shown discomfort at his condition. But he supposed she had seen far worse and to take the lack of broken bones in stride.
"I'm going to reset it" she told him and Zao gave a curt nod before biting down hard on his sleeve, the dirt clinging to the fabric souring his mouth.
With a quick jerk and a loud snapping pop, the joint reasserted itself. The pain was like a flash of lightning but it was something he knew from experience he could endure. Letting the cloth fall from his mouth his mind was drawn away from the pain by the voice of scribe Anthony.
"Sir… I believe that I might have found an answer to the strange abilities that the beings of this world possess" he said sounding stunned, as if even he could not believe what he had seen.
"During your battle with their leader I took the time to scan him, to the source of their power" he continued "and what I…"
"What, what did you see" he asked, already growing tired of not getting an answer.
"Sir… their using mass effect fields"
That statement left everyone stunned; mass effect technology was some of the most advanced technology the Republic had and he was telling them that these primitive aliens were using it.
"How" Zao asked?
"I…I'm not 100% certain but" he said as he began to tap away on his pip-boy and began projecting the battle Zao had with the alien leader. They watched, the video slowed down to a level that the finer details of their bout could be seen and with it, the natives Vitra-Tswal.
"When he began to cover his body in that purple glow my equipment detected severe gravitic fluctuations emanating from his body" he explained as an overlay of his readings showed how the gravity around him would move and shift, gravity decreasing as he moved to close the distance with Zao and increasing in his arms as he swung down on Zao's defense. They watched as it happened again and again and though they had found an answer it only provided more questions.
"You see there, he created a corridor of rapidly fluctuating mass effect fields" Anthony pointed out as the readings reached a critical level when the chieftain began to condense his power in his hand before he swung his arm upward and Zao watched from a proper viewing what he had actually dodged. The ground from the Olo'eyktan had erupted in a line of detonations, leaving craters in the ground and plumes of dust as they went.
"How is this possible" Strong said, bending down further in the shuttles cabin to get a closer look.
"I could only speculate, maybe it could be from the high amounts of eezo in their environment but even then I am not sure. There is no precedent for anything like this; we would need to do a more in-depth examination if we are to ever find out"
Zao did not like that, their strange powers still proving to be the most dangerous aspect of them and without proper counter measures things could get worse.
"I noticed something as well" Strong said, motioning Anthony to rewind the footage back to when the large war painted chieftain was in view. "Look there, his club has shards of eezo sticking out of it"
"I thought their laws forbade them from using it" Sullivan said, confused as they all looked at the strange weapon.
"Difference in philosophy perhaps, or in understanding of that creatures laws" Ophelia chimed finishing wrapping his ankle to keep it immobile and injecting a stimpak into his leg.
"Doubtful, if this thing has as much of a hold over these people as we believe, I doubt it would allow such disobedience"
Zao looked into the eyes of that man, milky eyed and battle scarred and that he and him would need to speak to each other one day.
Eventually the cabin of the shuttle returned to their previous calm, with only the tapping of fingers on screens and the low mumblings of Anthony along with the voice of Sullivan and Ophelia speaking of the Na'vi's religion.
After some time the two shuttles finally returned to Hell's gate, the twin birds touching down in the same hanger they had left and by the time the door opened Zao could walk out on his own. But as they all departed and went to attend to their duties it seemed that he would have one more battle to fight as on his way to his quarters stood the equally corpse like form of Grace Augustine. She leaned against the wall as though she was waiting for someone, waiting for him.
"Good evening Augustine" he said to her, giving a short nod to her even as pain still stabbed at his ankle and the weariness of all that had happened tonight was beginning to weigh him down.
"Cut the shit Zao, I know what your goons did" she told him, standing up from her leaning position.
Zao sighed, he could just call security to deal with her and though she was not technically part of his command structure he knew it wouldn't take much to confine her to her quarters for a time. But this had gone on long enough.
"And what is it you think I did" he asked her, letting his weariness coat his words in annoyance.
"You took your men and threatened them with war and from the way you're trying to hide your limp I can tell they said no" she answered, scowling as she pointed a finger at his injured ankle.
"Whatever you think happened between them and I, I can assure you it did not end as you expected" he told her to which she rolled her eyes.
"Whether you killed them all or made them submit, it makes no difference" she spat.
"What is it, what is it truly that drives your hatred of me. From the moment we met you have acted like this and I wish to know why" he told her bluntly.
"I treat you the way you deserve because I know who you are, who you really are. I treat you like a monster because you are one, a monster that helped burn the world" she whispered hatefully as Zao felt shock rush through his body. His involvement in the Great War had been all but forgotten and any who knew of his past were either long dead or didn't care.
"How…" he said before he was cut off.
"Boston harbor, 9PM every week on a Tuesday, like clockwork" she told him, rotating her finger in a circle.
"You, you were in Boston" he breathed out.
"I was, I had been a scavenger at the time and I'd heard a story about a monster in the water. So I waited and waited and imagine my surprise when I see the tower of a submarine breach the water. And out of that tower came you, dressed in your commie fatigues" she said as began to pace back and forth. "I had wanted to rob you then and there but with how much food you brought back I assumed that you were not the only one that was down there."
"So that it" he said "You are angry at for what I had d…" he tried to before he was cut off again.
"No not for that. The bones have since been buried and the screams have died along with their owners. I'm mad at the way you portray yourself as some wise man. Then go on to another world armed with guns and ready to do it all again" she growled.
"We will not be like them" she mocked "You and the rest of these soldiers are raiders in all but name; you take what you want and kill any who resist. The only difference is that your armor is less rusted" she berated, finishing her scathing retort as she walked away and leaving Zao with his rage as he stormed off to his quarters, holding back only long enough for the door to seal before he began to punch the wall. Again and again and again until he stopped, breathing heavy as he walked away from the bloody wall and fell into his bed. Her words and the memories of his crew walking with him into his sleep making he would have no rest.
After the humans and the Tipani had left them, their fastest Ikran and its rider had flown off to where the rest of the tribe had left. They had returned as quickly as they could and though there were moments of joy as families were reunited after believing they would never see them again the news of their Olo'eyktan's duel spread like a fire. The men spoke of giants with yellow eyes and armor unlike anything they had ever seen, the corpse that had led them.
Now though, Arvok had been in the same place he had been when this had all began. Same tree, same branch and same viewing of the Omaticaya. He had retreated to this place, a calling in his mind to return. Perhaps he felt safe here; a viewing of the familiar that calmed his soul, even as his mind was anything but.
He did not know how to feel…about any of this. They had survived and with it the Omaticaya would walk the world for another day. Yet he could not bring himself to rejoice, his brother had made it clear. Whatever bond they had shared for so long had been broken, broken by perceived betrayal and cowardice. When he had tried to speak to his parents they had looked at him with such contempt, a look that was far from the exception.
The lives of his people in exchange for their love.
'It seemed Eywa had a sense of humor' he thought bitterly as he held the gift the green titan had given to Neytiri, having retrieved it from the ground she had thrown it across. He had yet to pull the blade from it sheath, to immersed and slightly hesitant for what the blade could do. It might have seemed foolish, a blade was a blade but after everything he had seen. He couldn't take anything for a certainty.
Licking his lips nervously he grasped the sheath in one hand and the blade in the other and slowly pulled. He heard a strange scraping sound as the blade was pulled free and as he held the alien blade in his hands he held it aloft, letting the light of the moon shine on it.
It had a single edge and was made of something he had never seen before. Reminding almost of the skin of the buzzers with its silvery sheen that glinted as the light parted against its edge. Its handle likewise was made of a black material that felt smooth but not slippery and a small disk in between the two that he did not know the purpose for.
Truly he almost felt underwhelmed before a voice from below made him loose focus and release his grip on the blade. He watched the blade turn in the air, the point of the blade meeting the bark of the tree. And he watched as the blade sunk itself all the way to the metal disk.
He was so stocked that he almost didn't heard the sound of someone climbing as looked over the branch and saw Neytiri coming to him.
"Did you not hear me" she said as he quickly apologized; scrambling to pull the blade from the tree, taking as much effort to pull it out as it had for it to sink in and only resulting in her seeing him holding it in his hands.
Surprisingly she didn't yell for holding the weapon of the humans, though she definitely did not look happy about it. Sliding the blade back into its home, being extra careful after seeing what it could do, the two sat next to each other as they looked over the people in silence.
"How is your father" he asked as she let out a shaky breath.
"He still sleeps but the healers say he will live. My mother has not left his side since she arrived and has forbidden any from seeing him, even me and Sylwanin" she told him.
That was good; Eytukan was the heart of the tribe, to have him die would have been a loss that might have broken the tribe.
"There is a great uncertainty though" she added, whispering beneath her breath.
"The rite of first blood was a sacred way given to us by Eywa so that we might end war before it can begin" she told him, looking at him with a pained expression "But now Sylwanin and your brother are speaking of stopping the humans, saying that it was only meant for the people and that they have no need to abide my it"
Arvok felt his heart drop at that and a rage to boil up inside him. They had just escaped death, could they not see it. Were they so blind with rage that they would rather die than think?
"I would have thought you would be happy. You were one of the first who wanted to fight them" he told her as she cast her eyes back towards the people and tears began to fall from her eyes.
"He was the strongest of us. He was the strongest and… he lost" she said, biting her lips to keep them from quivering "I saw a corpse that should have died a long time face him. I saw that thing move just as fast as him, fighting with unholy skill… and I saw it win"
"If we fight them, there would be no glorious victory. It would be a war that took every from us but…" she told him as she wrapped her arms around herself in a self-hug. "They are hurting Eywa Arvok, her animals fight and die for her while I sit here… and I don't know what to do"
Arvok put a hand on her shoulder, the physical contact seeming to help as her muscles began to relax under his touch.
"Am I coward; to not want my people to die. To know what Eywa demands but to be unwilling to pay the price" she asked him looking to him desperately.
"No" he told her, swinging his body around to face her fully, preparing himself for what he was about to say because if taken wrongly… he didn't want to think about it.
"I feel the same way but more than that, I think we need to learn from them and about them" he said to her and looking surprised by his words.
"They have things were cannot even properly describe, they have seen things we could not imagine" he told her, pulling out the alien blade once and showing the flat of the blade to her as her aversion to it changed to surprise when he, without any real effort pushed the blade into the bark once more "And what weapons we do understand are simply better"
"If we are to protect our people, then we need to learn what they know" he finished ad had expected her to look at him like he was crazy, but instead she just began to laugh.
"You're always the same Arvok, you're so strange" she said as her laughter began to die down. "If my sister heard you say that she'd call you a traitor"
"I don't think your sister has ever had the highest opinion of me" he told her, smiling sheepishly as he remembered the looks she had given him. The two laughed at that, a moment reprieve amidst the storm.
As the laughter died down and the reality of what he had said set Neytiri asked him. "So you're going to go to the humans then, to follow their crimson light"
Arvok nodded his head "I will be banished, that I think is a certainty. Perhaps you will be as well or maybe they will give you a lighter punishment, I don't know. But what I do know is that I will go to the humans, hear what they have to say and learn as much as I can. The people can denounce me; they can decry and curse me with every breath. And even if Eywa herself sees fit to damn my soul to forever wander alone, I will never stop fighting for them" he swore.
He watched as Neytiri's face blushed in a darker shade of blue, the corner of lips beginning to pull into a smile "I always knew there was something special about you" she told him as she nudged herself closer to him. "Always looking at things so strangely and saying things no one in their right mind would say"
As she spoke she gave him a look that made his heart flutter. "And I did ask that if we survived that you would be mine" she whispered to him as she reached a hand behind her neck and undid the knot of her bra. "I hope your answer hasn't changed"
His eyes went wide and lips instinctively curl into a grin as the cloth fell away and revealed her breasts. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as she came closer and whispered in his ear.
"Follow me"
And with that she got up and walked towards the trunk of the tree, swaying her hips enticingly as she gave him one last look before climbing higher up. Arvok needed no further invitation as he got up and chased after her.
It would be in that tree that the two would become one in the most intimate way and even admits a world set to burn in the fires of war, the pair would have each other and this moment forever.
Eytukan's head pulsed with every heartbeat, his brain feeling as if it was pressing against his skull. And he felt cold, so cold as he slowly peeled his eyes open. His vision was swirling, the never stopping its spin. His body was slow and sluggish to react as he felt something touch his arm and saw the face of his beloved enter his vision.
"Mo'at" he wheezed, his throat dry as sand as he tried to pull himself up.
"Hush me dear, everything is okay" she said, her soothing voice bringing ease to his heart even as pain radiated on the right side of his body. With great effort he lifted his arm and stared in shocked horror at the stump that greeted him. In that moment it all came rushing back to him, the walking corpse, the duel, his hand his hand was gone!
His breathing became short and frantic trying to pulling himself up, he needed to get up! But no matter how hard he tried, he just didn't have the strength with Mo'at holding him down gently.
"Look at me" she said to him grasping his face in both her hands and arcing his head to look her in the eye. She repeated it again and again until he had lost the strength to move and tears began to fall from his eyes, the memory of his duel with the living corpse returning to him like a flash of lightning.
"I failed" he croaked. "I have failed the people, I have failed our daughters, and I have failed Eywa"
"No my love, you have not failed anyone. You fought with all your strength" Mo'at said, consoling her mate as she brought him into her arms.
A small and meaningless excuse. He had accepted the rite, for fear of losing his people. He had thought he could kill their leader but he had been so small and fast. Like a buzzing insect his blows had glanced right off him. He had pushed him harder than he ever had been before, his Vitra-Tswal had flared with Eywa's power and yet… the corpse had won.
"What will become of us?" he whispered, would Eywa punish them for his failure, for giving them the opportunity to ravage her with impunity.
"Now is not the time to fall into despair" she told him. "The people still live; your daughters still live because of you. If you had not accepted than who knows what might have happened"
Eventually after some time Eytukan began to calm down, slowly regaining his composure as his breathing came back under his control.
"Thank you" he whispered; she had always been his rock in trying times, and it seemed that times would become more trying than they ever were before "Where is Sylwanin and Neytiri?
"I sent them down with the rest of the people, I did not want them to see you like this" she told him and he was thankful for that. He needed to keep going and be the leader they needed. But as he looked down at the stump of his he felt the knot in his stomach tighten all the harder. How could he face them again, he was their strongest warrior, their greatest hunter but now...
"What does Eywa wish of me Mo'at? Does she wish for us to simply watch?" he asked her, desperate to hear her answer. For she was the Tsahik and if he was the head of the tribe she was the heart, a heart that beat with their goddess.
Mo'at closed her eyes and was silent for a long time before she spoke once more.
"The time of war has come and gone, and will come again. But now must be a time of words"
Author's notes
Alight folks here is chapter 12 and sorry for all the people that might of still been hoping for a Jake x Neytiri pairing, though i might add a human x Na'vi relationship further down the line. And if you haven't guessed the Na'vi's "Vitra-Tswal are biotics and all Na'vi are biotic to one degree or another similar to the Asari.