Was everything I knew a lie?
'Do you know this place?' Jake asked later in the quietness of their cabin, Opal mumbling something through her full mouth.
'Yes, I do.' Grace's assistant said, coming closer to the computer screen. 'The Tree of Souls.' Grace added, a tiny smile appearing on her lips. 'It is one of their most sacred places. Neytiri has taken you there?'
Jake tried to ignore the slight jealousy in Grace's voice, nodding while looking at the image in front of them. 'We flew by, yeah.' Grace's assistant seemed lost in her thoughts, not responding when her aunt called her name.
'Opal, are you alright?' Norm poked her in her side, the girl letting out a surprised yell as her thankfully empty plate clattered to the floor.
'Yes, yes.' A blush appeared on her cheeks, her blue eyes seeming tired and distant. 'A bit tired, that is all. And I am a bit bummed Peyral has not taken me to the Tree of Souls just yet.'
'She knows what she is doing.' Jake gently reminded her, giving her a small smile. 'I am sure she has her reasons. You were also sure you would not be able to become a hunter, and here you are!'
The girl groaned, but the distant emotion seemed gone from her eyes. 'Don't remind we! We are going hunting tomorrow, I am a bit apprehensive …'
Jake shook his head, the ex-marine squeezing her arm in support. 'You'll do great. You have done well so far.'
The next morning, Opal's courage she had gotten from Jake's words were all but gone. 'I am not sure if I can do this.' she whispered to Peyral, preferring to stick close to her former mentor and hunter extraordinaire.
The looks the other hunters were giving her, even the young ones with which she had taken the final test, made her skin crawl. It made once more clear how much of an outsider she, and Jake by extension, really were.
'You will do fine, Opal.' Grace said, coming to stand next to her. 'Peyral will surely look after you.' The huntress nodded, turning to Neytiri to discuss some last minute details.
'Take this.' Grace murmured, turning her back to the rest of the group so that only Opal would see what was going on. 'What is it?' The scientist smiled sadly at her niece, giving the ornament to her.
It was a necklace, clearly made for Na'vi bodies, three stones and some other ornaments, such as beads and even a feather also worked into the necklace.
'This was a necklace I made for your mother. The plan was always that she would join me, and you by extension, when you were older. But then she got sick and, well,….'
A silence fell over them, the old grief and sadness still a bitter scar on both Opal's and Grace's hearts. 'I want you to have it. I also have one, but I keep it at base.'
Opal did not know what to say, her lip trembling a bit as she accepted the gift, allowing Grace to clasp it around her neck.
'Opal, we need to go, come on!' Neytiri called out, Opal wiping away the stray tear that fell out of her eye. 'Thank you, auntie Grace. See you later!' Opal quickly hugged the woman, grabbing her bow and arrows as she ran after Peyral, the woman giving her a knowing and sad look.
Over the time they had spent together, Opal and Peyral had grown close, close enough for the human to discuss the loss of her mother, her relationship with Grace and how hard everything had been the past few years.
She followed the hunters closely, deciding to wait for most of them to mount their ikrans before she would go. She absolutely loved Mowan, but Grace's assistant absolutely hated when they went off the tree, her fear of heights lessened, but still making her apprehensive.
A sound behind her made her smile, Mowan stopping before her as she sniffed at her rider. 'Ready to go and catch some food?' Opal grinned, her ikran answering with a happy screech.
Opal ignored the snickers of the young hunters behind her, trying to concentrate on commanding Mowan to fly. 'Too scared to fly, human?' One of them sneered, Jake glaring at them from beside her. 'It's none of your business.' Opal snarled back, Mowan snapping her teeth in warning at the other ikran.
'Ignore them, Opal.' Peyral whispered later, as they flew behind Tsu'tey and his group of hunters, as per his orders. Time passed slowly, until one of the hunters on horseback let out a shout in Na'vi.
'We are hunting a whole group of those things? But they are huge!' The human girl answered, her tail of her Na'vi body twitching in anticipation. Peyral laughed softly, winking as she put her flying "goggles" on.
'Of course, we have a whole tribe to feed. Come on, Opal, let's have fun!'
'Don't fly too low, Jake!' Neytiri called out some time later, Opal looking down from a safe and higher distance. 'You don't want to be trampled to death!'
Time passed as they shot down a few of the animals, but Opal was still apprehensive to try to kill one, sure that something would go wrong.
'Come on, Opal!' Her friend called out, the ex-marine grinning from ear to ear. 'Let's try to take one down also!' The girl seemed to hesitate for a second, but Peyral gave her an encouraging shout, and finally she gave a sigh.
'Okay, fine!' Mowan followed Jake's ikran, very aware of her worried rider. Jake and his banshee had a tendency to go lower, but Opal still stayed high, even though her bow and arrow were knocked and ready for use.
'That one!' Jake shouted, pointing to one of them. 'The quickest way to kill them is to put an arrow in their nostrils, at the sides of their necks!'
Grace's niece nodded, eyes zeroing in on the animal. Jake fired an arrow in quick succession, Opal's also firing one, but while Jake's fell into the right place, Opal's arrow hit the animal in the leg, the animal falling down.
It was dead in mere moments, but Opal could not stop cringing at the sound the animal made. She gave Jake an encouraging smile, congratulating him with his amazing shot. Peyral's ikran flew next to her, ignoring the shouting and mocking from the other hunters as Opal blushed, her blue skin changing into a darker shade of blue.
'You'll do better next time, yeah?' Opal nodded, but her happiness was gone, the self-doubt coming back once more.
Opal was withdrawn and silent the following days, Neytiri and Peyral, even Jake, giving her worried looks.
Mowan screeched softly as they flew around mindlessly, Opal's thoughts remembering the humiliation she had endured earlier today.
'You are not welcome, human!' Tsu'tey snarled, the other hunters grinning and whispering behind him. 'You are clearly not made to hunt, even if you have passed the test. Now, get out of my sight, or we will not have any food for tonight!'
Peyral had hissed at Tsu'tey in warning, but Opal had been too embarrassed, and had retreated quickly, eyes burning with unshed tears.
Mowan screeched softly, her neck moving to the left as she focused on a sound in the distance. 'Is that?' Opal whispered, eyes looking down. 'Is someone calling for help?' Mowan seemed to think the same, following her rider's thoughts without any prompting.
The ikran flew closer, and it became clear to Opal it was the group of young hunters that had been mocking her earlier this morning. Two of them seemed stuck underneath a tree, the others trying to help move the branches. A group of Hammerhead Titanothere rumbled in the distance, and they were closing in at an alarming rate.
This could become very dangerous very quickly if they did not get them free.
'You have got to be kidding me!' Opal sighed, but Mowan flew down all the same, landing not far from the trapped hunters. 'How did you get stuck?' Opal asked, the young hunter that had been the most vocal about taunting her, giving her a piercing look.
'I am not being mean or arrogant. Just asking. I do not have the same rotten personality as you.' Grace's assistant grunted, climbing over one of the branches. 'You two, get on your ikran and try to move the branches.'
They seemed stunned for a moment, but did it without hesitating when Mowan screeched angrily in warning.
What followed was a bit of a blur. Even with Mowan's help, the moving of the branches was too slow, and the group of Titanothere were getting closer and closer.
'Come on, one more push!' Opal screeched, Mowan and the other ikran giving one last push. And finally, the last hunter crawled from underneath the thick branches.
Unfortunately for Opal, the hunter's ikran was quick to go to his rider, knocking a screeching Mowan out of the way. 'Look out, human!' a voice called out, but Opal did not see much, apart from her world tilting as Mowan lost her footing and started falling down.
Their connection broke, Mowan flying headfirst into some thick bushes and trees on the left side. Opal smacked onto the ground before the tree where the hunter had been trapped, her head hitting the earth hard.
Her head was woozy for a minute, her ears ringing from the impact. 'Get out of there, you fool!' She heard a voice (pretty sure it was lovely Tsu'tey) shouting at her, calls of her name also filling the air.
'You'll be trampled to death! Get up, Opal!' Mowan's screeching also filled the air, but it was too late. The time that Opal understood what was going on, the Titanothere were meters from her body.
'Oh please, no!' Opal cried out, trying to crawl to the tree behind her. 'Someone, please, help me!' Her voice sounded shrill and scared, not like her usual calm voice.
'OPAL!' Jake's voice was lost in the thumping of the animals, Grace's assistant curling into a ball and trying to protect her head.
She would have expected excruciating pain, and then blackness, but it remained silent. A screech sounded from above her, Mowan's body shielding her from an impact that never came.
Opal blinked when she looked up, an unnatural silence filling the clearing. The Titanothere had stopped inches from her, blinking at her. Opal let out a shuddering breath, standing up as Mowan moved next to her.
A trembling hand patted the Titanothere on his side, moments later. 'Thank you.' Opal whispered, not sure if she was talking to the animal or whatever deity had helped her out this time.
The group of hunters was silent on the ride home, more often than not giving Grace's niece curious but impressed glances, who still seemed in shock.
No one knew what to say, but Mo'at eyes' seemed to follow her with new wisdom. It was that night, when Opal was almost asleep, that she decided to thank whoever had saved her once more.
There was a barely audible voice, that seemed to chuckle softly. It was the voice that Opal so often heard in her dreams, dreams she often did not remember.
'You are welcome, my daughter. Your time has not come yet. You and Jake Sully have been chosen for a reason.'
Opal sighed as she turned in her sleep, a soft smile appearing on her lips, the voice still whispering softly to her in her dreams.
'You just have to have enough courage to believe it.'