The hot midday sun beat down on the backs of the on looking peoples, they gathered in clusters, watching, apprehension gathered in their tense shoulders. Hushed murmurs and whispers buzzed from clanmate to clanmate, vexation and anxiety beheld in their tone.
"He cannot possibly be serious"
"They will kill him!"
"Is he really going out there?"
"This is suicide! Surely olo'eyktan will not allow him to go…"
Five tsuraks wallowed in the shallow water, saddled up and ready to transport their riders on their recklessly brave journey.
Kiri shifted where she stood, pulling the shawl she'd draped over herself higher up her shoulders. Lo'ak and Spider stood at her each shoulder, looking on with downcast eyes. Tuk was not present with them- already too sick to leave the tsahìk's marui. She shivered, despite the relentless sunshine, at the words of the villagers around her. She's heard the stories before, the tales of old, detailing carnage and gore beyond what she could've ever imagined. Legends of a clan ostracized from the rest of Pandora, walking in a practice so different from their own – so horrifically violent, so pagan – that they were doomed to be cast out as pariahs.
And now, her mother and father – with the help of 3 Metkayina men - were about to set off, straight into the beating heart of the beast.
It all started a few days ago. Back in the forest, when they went to pay a visit to Neteyam… when they discovered that hideous sore on Tuk's arm.
It was not just a sore.
It goes by quite a few names. The white death, the swift killer, whatever that fancy ass name Norm gave it was. Its most commonly addressed as the Pale Fever. But the Na'vi call it Neymäspxin. No survivors. Tens of thousands dead from all clans.
Its occurrence was rare, rare enough that she was only hearing about it now, despite having trained under Mo'at in all manner of disease and herbal remedies. But that's beside the point- the pale fever may be rare, but when it made an appearance disaster was soon to follow. It travels fast, works fast- able to kill a grown Na'vi in 2 months or less. A painstaking death was most guaranteed for the unfortunate victim.
As far as the clans knew, there was no cure. As far as the clans knew, that was. As of recent, the Tayrangi reached out with a helpful bit of information.
There was, in fact, a viable cure for the Pale Fever. In the form of a small plant. The Metkayina were originally overjoyed, relieved at the prospect of an antidote for their loved ones' suffering. But when Ikeyni detailed the place in which it grew, their hopes withered.
They owned it. It grew on their islands. The plant that could potentially save tens of lives was their property- and the perchance of them sharing their lifesaving herbs was slim to none.
Before things went… awry with the segregation of the unlawful peoples, they had been in a trading partnership with the ikran people of the eastern sea. They had supplied them with abounding bundles of that precious, precious herb in exchange for the colorful and ornately patterned banshee harnesses skillfully embroidered by their weavers.
But those stores of the herb were, obviously, long gone now. The conflict had been eons of decades ago, even before Eytukan, her grandfather, was born.
This was the fate that was thrust upon her sister- little Tuk, barely eight years old.
In a desperate bid to save their youngest daughter, Jake and Neytiri planned to set off out to the islands and request a few sheaves of the plant to eradicate Neymäspxin. This would be no easy feat. From what she heard, their olo'eykte would be less than pleased to see strangers encroaching onto her land.
The crowd parted in two to let someone pass. The vexation etched upon Tonowari's face did nothing to ease her worries.
"I admire your courage, JakeSuli" he said as he approached, "but are you sure you want to go out there? Those people are dangerous- you saw what happened when we ventured too close to their lands"
The memory was all too fresh. Lone scouts had been sent out to check upon the smaller uninhabited islands of their archipelago, to check for any signs of the healing plant, but they were met with a surprise. The olo'eykte of the shunned peoples apparently had her islands frequently patrolled. Five Metkayina would die at their hands…
Jake didn't waver in his decision.
"I know it's gonna be dangerous," he replied, "… but I have to save my daughter"
Tonowari gave a nod, placing a hand to Jake's shoulder.
"Eywa be with you, Toruk Makto"
As their olo'eyktan withdrew, Jake walked up to where the three stood. He pulled them into an embrace, his large arms encircled and corralled them into himself. They hugged back, willing their minds to etch his warmth into memory- this could be the last time they ever saw him.
"I'll be back soon," he rumbled, pulling away, "look after each other, alright?"
Their replies came in the form of uniform 'yes sir's as they watched him go. Neytiri came up and did the same, bidding them farewell with the promise of return.
Ronal came bustling out of her marui, carrying a small pouch in her free hand. Strapped to her chest in a baby carrier was the newest addition to the olo'eyktan's family. A curly haired little boy peeking at the world through wide green eyes- Kayek te Atlu Tonowari'itan.
The tsahìk handed the pouch over to Neytiri, "Use these sparingly, they will help with energy. Be safe"
The tsuraks kicked up a spray of water as they took liftoff, rapidly swishing their strong, sinuous tails to propel their front halves into the air. Cheers and calls of good luck sounded from the people as they watched the noblest of their warrior go.
A sinking feeling pitted into Kiri's stomach. She felt suddenly sick, sick with worry. The nerved were jostling and bouncing inside of her belly, twisting into tighter and tighter knots.
This is a suicide mission…
──────※ ·🔸️· ※──────
Life is not fair, she seethed, teeth clenched and hands fisted as she walked through the untamed brush. Her tail whipped and lashed angrily against fern and shrub as they brushed against her thighs. Every single time, no matter what she did- no matter how fast she ran, no matter how many others she beat in combat, no matter what beasts she took down- the answer would always be uncertain.
"I still feel you are not quite ready, young one. Have patience"
She'd been patient, she'd been patient all the fourteen cycles of her life. Now it was waning thin.
Most all of her peers were already given the green light to complete their rite of passage- three had returned successful, four had met their brutal and swift ends wherever their skills faltered along the journey. Too soon, but complaining would be a waste of breath.
It is what it is.
The communal fire pit was abuzz with life as Na'vi sat themselves in little circlets ringing around the singular, giant flame. Shadows darkened the gravelly earth as they darted about on stretched out legs, distorted from their original form under the sheet of dark sky. Animals hooted and keened their voices to the mountain, providing a constant ambience that thrummed softly in the back of everyone's minds.
The adults let lopsided smiles slip onto their faces under the veil of liquor running warm through their systems- not too much though, vigilance is key to one's survival.
A little further off to the side, a smaller ring of teenagers sat on crossed legs, chowing down on a meal of rich legumes and roasted hunks of dodiapede meat. Their ears were pricked and awkwardly slanted to the right as they were discreetly trying to listen in on the grown ups' slightly tipsy conversation, stiffening with interest when a loosed tongue let slip a little too much.
One of the girls let out a little gasp and placed a palm over her mouth, eyes wide and bright, tail giving a little thump in excitement against the woven mat.
"Oh my, Naska is courting who now?" she breathed in a not-so-hushed whisper, throwing a slight look to the side at the Na'vi of interest. The lean built Na'vi girl promptly received a reprimanding smack on the arm, earning a startled hiss from the victim.
"We will not be able to find out if you do not learn to whisper, Inyari" the perpetrator, Rayli, quipped in a playfully angry, quieted voice. Retaliation came in the form of a swift, but not harsh, whip to Rayli's knee by Inyari's tail. The play fight between two girls drew a few curious glances from the adults and a few chuckles from a few of the other adolescents- mainly those who had secretly snuck some pongu pongu when nobody was there to bear witness.
Many seasons ago, she could only glance wistfully at the people she now sat next to in the circle, unable to do anything but wallow in self-pity at her downed luck with genetics. She was no longer that Na'vi. She had grown, matured into something one might admire if they looked past the white veil; she proved to them she was strong and worthy of their companionship.
She'd fought her way past their discrimination, past all the hurtful comments. She was one of them now.
But sometimes, especially without her troop of newfound friends, she felt like that little six-year-old girl again- stripped bare of her defenses, alone at the mercy of the people's mockery.
No matter how much she changed, bettered herself to their liking, they still judged her brutally. Their smiles and friendly behavior was merely a mask to hide the ugly sneers and hateful glint in their malignant eyes. Supposed compliments left bite wounds, obviously faked praise raked down on her self-esteem and it hurt.
It hurt knowing that, no matter what she did, she would just never measure up in their eyes. She could give them the sun, the moon, the whole damn sky for fucks sake, and whispers would still bubble up behind her unsuspecting back. An outcast. Brought into this world with the sole intent to destroy her people
All for what? Something that was passed down to her, forced on her, something she didn't even want or have control over.
It was the stuff of legend, a story passed down through generations upon generations- a legend she embodied in the flesh. Many wished to be legends in their lifetimes, to be the heroes told about in children's bedtime stories. She was a different kind of legend. One that sparked terror and rage in her people's hearts, ones that spurred their contempt and hatred.
So much so that olo'eykte only permitted her to begin training as a warrior at seven years old- when normal Txekamwey children began at five.
Only recently was she allowed to even attempt rite of passage.
Once all the food was wolfed down by hungry mouths, the clan gathered thickly around the main ylltxep, awaiting his arrival on bated breath. Children were not permitted to attend these ceremonies as their inability to sit still would disrupt the reading and anger the mountain. Those who had just reached the age of 10 were allowed to be present and could barely hold in their excitement- leaning forward and staring around with eyes as round as jung jung fruit.
The man's walk was slow, deliberate, with every step seeming to hold importance in where it landed. His footfalls were silent, barely audible over the crackle of the flames as he approached. His posture was bent over slightly with the weight of the wisdom he carried. When the light of the fire spilled onto his burgundy shawl, littered with cascading ikingí spines, she felt her breath catch in her throat.
His face, wrinkled with age, held a stern severity about it that made her feel like a petulant child being scolded for her wrongdoings. His orange gaze, ruddy and hardened, swept over the dead silent crowd, as if searching for someone in particular.
"Oe kaltxí txon sí" he resounded over the crowd, raising his calloused hands in greeting.
"Txon sínga kaltxí" the people rumbled back, bowing their heads in turn to the old man. He sent a respectful nod over his right shoulder at the Olo'eykte before turning back to the heavily expectant peoples. His bony hand fisted into the sewn bark cloth pouch at his chest and he brought a fistful of ash colored powder, presenting it over their heads on the flat of his palms.
"I ask of you, great txepram of txeptseng, show me what you foresee"
The crowd was silent with awe as he flung the powder into the throng of the flames, gasping out when the licking orange tongues suddenly spiked upwards, jabbing at the air with orange spears. No matter how many times he did it, her heart would always skip a beat from excitement and fear when the roar of the fire intensified.
A plume of purple-grey smoke began to unfurl from its bed of flames, like a flower uncurling from its resting coil to greet the day with its beauty. All eyes glued to its wispy, willowy form as it rose and rose, higher and higher into the blue-black of the night sky. He stuck his hand into it, weaving and toying it through his fingers like a silk cloth. Shapes began to morph from the formless grey smoke, getting more and more detailed with each wave of his palm.
"A hand" the man croaked, the orange of his eyes having nearly disappeared behind the dark of his dilated pupils.
"A hand of the dreamwalker"
A murmur rumbled through the crowd as head bowed to head and whispers blossomed beneath the orange light. Glances were thrown over the threshold of the fire pit to the four men seated way too comfortably by the side of the chieftess. They shifted uncomfortably beneath the scrutiny, too-dark hands folding tensely in their laps.
áálík was, at first, paying avid attention to the txepanyu as he read the smoke, ears pricked and eyes wide. Then she heard something… strange. At first she thought it was just an animal taking a late night traipse through the foliage, coming to check things out and see what all the noise was about. She flicked a pointed ear in the direction of the noise, acknowledging it without a glance before reverting her attention back to the ceremony in front of her.
The quieted racket continued on behind her, but she paid no mind to it. Her gaze was transfixed on the ever winding feather of purple-grey smoke that twisted and spiraled into the air, emitting a pleasant, incense graced scent.
The little noises that pattered behind her back had been pushed to the back of her mind… until it started up again. Yes, they were steps, judging by the crunch of the leaves and the time intervals between them. That's what led her to stiffen on alert. As a younger child, she was taught to be able to identify approaching entities by sound alone- the timing between each step, the sound of its feet coming into contact with the ground. By this alone, she could discern the possible weight of the animal, the number of legs it had, the speed at which it was walking and its species.
Most animals in the cloud forest walked on four or more legs, the ones that walked on two did not sound like that. The tikul, one of the very few bipedal faunae on the island of Txeptseng, was the most common animal seen this close to the Txekamwey settlement. Their footsteps were hurried, rapid, heavy thuds against the ground.
These were not tikul.
She found out, to her horror, that there was more than one being walking behind her. And if her ears weren't blocked, they were definitely not animals. A little thrill of fear chased up her spine and her heart constricted in her chest. What if it is an attack?
A light nudge was delivered to her shoulder, causing her to startle a bit and she swiveled her head round to look at the culprit. "You are not slouching anymore, is Tumok watching?" E'muye, a close friend to her, whispered, inclining her head closer as to keep their little chat from spilling over into others' ears. She possessed only a single eye, the other having been brutally gouged from her face by a predator of the island when she was younger. In its place now was a patch of pink flesh, bearing an indent where her eye-socket would've been.
Kina's lips folded pensively as she met the one-eyed gaze of her half-blinded friend. Should she tell her? No, it was a secret best kept to herself, she didn't want to get E'muye in any more trouble than she already was, especially considering what she was about to do.
So she just shook her head, putting on a deflated smile. "Oh, it is nothing. I am just… feeling a little itchy, this grass is in want of water" she patted the dry blades behind her to emphasize her point that it was indeed wanting water. E'muye was not so easily fooled. She tilted her head and narrowed her one orange eye at Kina.
"You are going to do something, aren't you"
Busted.
"It is just a small thing, I will be back soon, no one will know" her nonchalant tone only seemed to charge her friend's concern even more.
"And what if they do? Did you ever think of that? You could be flogged!"
The punishment for skiving a ceremonial ritual of such importance was heavy- ranging from a bruising flogging session rendering you unable to lay down comfortably for weeks, to cultivation duty. The latter wasn't a light and easy thing, it was hard on the muscles, working with the behemoth Taullocks to dig up the rich, earthy soil.
But this didn't deter her. It would just be a quick peek. Maybe something dangerous had snuck too close to the people and they were at risk of an attack. This could be a chance to prove herself!
A sly grin fanned across Kina's face "Oh, is the serious warrior worried for me now?" she teased, delivering a playful nudge to her friend's shoulder. Though she was rather stoic and emotionless most of the time, Kina had managed to get under her armor and see past the serious facade. She was outcast just like her, considered lesser for factors she could not control.
A tiny hint of a smile flickered onto her face and she rolled her eyes, pushing back with a shove of her own.
"I suppose it is no use trying to stop you as you will do it anyway. Do not come crying when your ass gets beat"
Triumph bloomed in her chest and she couldn't help the smug tilt that made its way into her smile. It was, indeed, no use arguing with her. Once she was convicted it was hard to sway her.
"I won't" she said, before rising slowly to a low crouch.
The attention of the crowd was swallowed by the txepanyu, the perfect opportunity for her to slink away unnoticed. Once she was deep enough in the trees, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned her back to the light of the fire that still permeated by the thick trunks.
The entities were no longer where she thought them to be when she first heard their footsteps, but that was no problem, tracking was also in her forte of skills.
She squatted down to the damp, leaf-strewn soil, hunched over a few purposefully shaped indents in the wet ground. Her suspicions were correct. A singular oblong indent with 5 smaller, rounder ones at the top; a footprint. And not just any, this one had five toes instead of four.
"Uniltirantokx" she murmured to herself in, lightly tracing the outline of the footprint. An adult, judging by the depth of it, most likely a man. But the dreamwalkers on the island do not walk barefoot, instead alternating to wear heavy black footwear that left weird zig-zag prints in the earth. Either one of them snuck away devoid of their otherworldly foot coverings or…
Her ears flattened and she backed away from the footprint. I knew something was not right. Her head whipped around in all directions, as if something was about to jump out of the trees and make her its prey.
These were not part the sky people's dreamwalkers.
Another set of prints was smaller, slenderer than the first. Female. A lightweight if the shallower indents spoke correctly. Four toes this time. Pure Na'vi. But all the adult women were either at the smoke reading or tending to the young children and infants. The final three sets of prints were the strangest. Four toes, like the second set, but these ones were wider, broader, and the toes had webbing stretched between them.
The sharp tang of sea salt and water clung to the air. These Na'vi clearly took a swim before this, likely trying to wash of their scent. Unsuccessful.
She started to trail after them, ears on alert, creeping low to the ground, nose twitching as the sea-salt odor grew in strength. She was getting closer. Before long, she got close enough to hear the soft squelch of their cautioned footsteps sinking into the soft earth. They were talking. Her ears stood up straighter as she discerned their mumbled conversations.
"There is bad energy in this forest… I can feel it" a man said, he sounded tense, afraid.
"Yeah, no kidding" another man, their accents differed.
Suddenly they stopped and Kina nearly gave herself away by stepping on a stick. It snapped with a sharp crack. She froze at the same time the Na'vi did, going stiff and crouching lower into the shadows, holding her breath in anticipation.
Then they let off.
She let out a breath. Relieved. The Na'vi, still on high alert, continued on. Kina followed behind them, cautious to keep from stepping on anything that would give away her position. There were five of them; four men, one woman. Two of them – one of the men and the woman – had moon blue skin, darker in complexion to her own. Their arms and legs were thin and their bodies lean built. Good for climbing. Forest people. The other three she did not know what to make of them.
Their chests were large, as if housing a massive pair of lungs, and their shoulders were broad and toned. Their arms had broadened extensions rifting from thumb to elbow, very strange looking. Teal blue skin and eyes the color of the sky. What are members of two different clans doing on Txekamwey land?
"We gotta move fast if we're gonna find him" The man from the forest said, adjusting his grip on the firearm he carried. Kina's ears perked up with interest. He wore the armor of the dreamwalker soldiers, a black vest, and carried their large weaponry. But he was not one of them. His hair fell in matted locks on his head, the dreamwalkers, or 'ma-reens' as they called themselves, often cut their hair short (minus the braid woven over their tswin of course).
As she continued to ogle the odd bunch, realization dawned on her.
These were people of a different clan, likely aggressors due to the weaponry they carried, walking through Txekamwey clan territory uninvited. Intruders. If someone found out she did not report, and someone almost always found out, she would be screwed.
So she did what any loyal member of the ash people would do.
She sounded the alarm.
Kina's loud yip bounced through the trees. Her people had exquisite hearing so it was a guarantee they heard her call. They sure did. The mixed group of people froze at her call, looking around wildly for the source of the sound, fear widened their eyes and the dreamwalker man cocked his gun.
For good measure, she let out another call, alerting the approaching people to their location.
"Ketartute fítseng! Ketartute fitseng!"
The Na'vi at the bonfire were now calling back, loud yips, yelps and hisses rang out, steadily getting closer. They sounded angry, enraged even, at the prospect of intruders on their land. The ground beneath her feet trembled with the thundering pound of their rapidly approaching footsteps. The intruders huddled closer together, backs pressed close as they looked in all directions for the source of the approaching noise.
"Shit, they found us"
Just as the stampede burst in through the trees, Kina met the liquid gold gaze of Toruk Makto.
Na'vi Dictionary
Olo'eyktan – clan leader/ Ikran - banshee / olo'eykte – female clan leader / Txepram – volcano / Txepanyu – reader of fire (txep – fire, inan – to read)/ Pongu pongu – an alcoholic beverage / Uniltirantokx – dreamwalker, avatar/ Tswin – Na'vi neural queue / Toruk Makto – rider of the last shadow (toruk – great leonopteryx, makto – ride)
Phrases
Oe kaltxí txon sí – I greet the night (oe – I, me / kaltxí si – to greet / txon – night)
Txon sínga kaltxí – The night greets you (nga – you)
Ketartute fitseng – intruders here (ketartu – outsider / fitseng – here)