Please be warned! This Chapter includes rather dark thoughts and the retelling of genocide. If you do not feel prepared to read this then skip to the bottom. I prepared a summary for the chapter.
Chapter 7
They followed Mo'at to the home tree where she shows them to Jake and Neytiri's former tent. It looked homey if a little chaotic. They had left in a hurry so that trinkets and clothes hat been strewn all over the place. Jake had left all of this to protect his family and as much as it hurt to not have met his twin again, Tom knew he would. And when he did he would move heaven and earth to give his brother absolute peace. His children and mate would be happy and he would be able to relax. That was his mission, his goal for his new life on Pandora.
"Mo'at, I must humbly request your help." The woman looked at him suspiciously but did not interrupt.
"I want to learn your ways. I mean the ways of a healer and of a spiritual guide. I feel Eywa has chosen Jake to do her will but he never learned to listen. I will learn for him. With the help of the great mother, I will heal him and his family, you have my word." She had seen the woodsprites surrounding him at the Tree of voices and clearly understood the sign. So she nodded to him.
"You will learn with me from tomorrow on. Do not be Skxawng and learn fast… and change your clothes, you stink of metal and death." With that she left.
The next morning Grace still had not woken so Tsahik told him to sense her energy. She showed him how to position his hand above her face and made him hold it for a long time. He felt little bolts of warmth in his fingertips after several minutes, then came an uncomfortable throb from his lower back. He told Mo'at this and she turned to Grace, rolled her to her side and moved a rock away that had pressed into her back. She made him repeat his actions and the throb had disappeared.
Several other Na'vi had been called for Tom to diagnose. It took him over ten minutes at first but after an entire day of sensing he was able to pull it of in under a minute.
At one point a young woman came to the tent and asked for his help. Nothing unusual if it had not been for her near maniacal grin. Mo'at had explained that the woman was but a child when the Hometree fell and she got stuck beneath the branches with her parents corpses right next to her. Tanu'ley, the young woman, had not recovered from the shock and now lived mostly in seclusion. Her physical woods had healed but her heart had not.
Normally she came into the village only to drop of her kill, after a successful hunt but now she stared him down, demanding his help. Tom felt for the woman and motioned her to lay on her back. When she did, he held out his hand over her face and waited for the now familiar sensation of warmth at his fingertips. When the feeling came, his body reacted way different than it had before. There was no pain in his body only a deep longing in her heart.
He sat back and looked at her now rising form.
"I see you, Tanu'ley. You are one of the people and beloved child of Eywa. All of them are with her and they want you to live in happiness. Just because you can't see them, does not mean they're not with you. Your scars on your heart and mind don't make you unworthy, they make you precious. Go speak to the great mother, she will show you your way." Tom felt peace in his body after finishing and he had the certain feeling, that the woman before him was now able to heal. Tanu'ley left the tent without another word.
Mo'at had showed him to her tent to teach him about the flora of the forest and about creating healing salves. That was something he was really good at, due to his intrinsic interest for plant life. When he was younger, his brother had complained again and again, when Tom had dragged him to plant exhibitions. Since the 2130's most plant had become endangered on earth and Tom had been instantly drawn to the first bushel of grass he had seen. He drooled over the daisies and nearly fainted when he saw a small Aloe Vera plant. Jake had been so grossed out by him, jet he always went with Tommy to see the same exhibition over and over again.
Now Tom had the time to really appreciate the thriving nature of pandora and was brought to tears each time he thought about it long enough. Mo'at took notice of this of course and send him out to gather herbs on a regular basis.
To the whole clans surprise Tanu'ley volunteered to take him to the woods to make sure he wouldn't get lost, or killed. At first she war really quiet but over the days she warmed up to him. She might even have warmed up too much, because she started pranking him. One day he woke up with a bunch of caterpillars in his hammock, then she dumped some honey on him and made him wade through swarms of insects to get to a river. Another day she made him wait hours in a tree, where her Ikran had dropped him.
Tom again profited from his past bullying experiences and made sure to not give her the satisfaction of seeing him of guard. The caterpillars were actually pretty fascinating to watch up close, the honey was quite tasty, though the swarms of insects came and went to fast, to actually study them. The tree she had dropped him on had some complex looking species of fungi growing on them, so he took the time to harvest them carefully and ask Mo'at about them.
To his great confusion his reactions seemed to only fascinate and spur her on. A week into his stay with the clan, she took him to a big waterfall and showed him how to climb the slippery rock. She finally found his weak spot when she let out a short cry of pain.
"Ahh, there is so much blood!" She writhed on the ground, holding her leg. He quickly sat down next to her, already pulling at his bag that was filled with herbs.
"Tanu'ley show me your wound." He instructed her with worry in his voice. When he saw her cheshire grin he knew he had failed.
"You scraped your knee on a boulder." She was about to start laughing but suddenly stopped when she saw his polite smile,
"Let me treat your serious wound" he said in a way that made her instincts scream to flee. With a tight grip over her knee he pulled out a long lead from his pack and some smaller roots. Tom chewed the roots into much and gently spread the mixture of saliva and root on the scrape. He then wrapped the long leaf around her knee to secure the wound. By the end of the procedure Tom looked up at her face.
"Please Tanu'ley, don't make fun when it comes to your health" her face had a deeply shocked expression with wide eyes, raised brows and cheeks several shades darker than her usual blue. As he rose from his sitting position he heard her say: "I won't do it again, To'masuly." He helped her up with a chuckle.
"Good, because that salve will sting a lot." He completely missed her intense gaze on his back when he moved back to the village.
For several Days in a row, Tom explored the forest on Mo'at's command to look for useful plants and herbs. She even allowed him to experiment a little after acknowledging his vast knowledge on the alien flora.
Tanu'ley was now like a shadow to Tom, always following, advising him and protecting him. She taught him to fight after he expressed an interest in learning and she was a really tough teacher. There were even moments of regret, due to his loss of former ruthlessness that earth had instilled in him.
He was pretty sure Jake never really noticed his tendencies to disregard other people than him, and he sure never wanted to lose the innocent trust his brother had given him since childhood. But now he found a relatively safe way to channel it and he felt like Eywa accepted Tom and his way of thinking.
Except for the fighting stuff Tanu'ley actually helped him to find numerous interesting plant and fungi species that he safely harvested and stored for further use. She told him how she had secluded herself from the clan after the Hometree fell. At first she wished to be with them in Eywa and just hoped one of the predators would release her from her pain, jet Eywa had plans for her.
She survived alone in the woods for several month when she was only six years old. At one point she came back to the clan, after all the fighting was over. Many people had thought her to be dead and were surprised to see her alive, they wanted he to come back and she did for some time.
She learned the way to hunt and became Rider of Ikran at a very young age, but after that she set off on her Ikran and stayed away for days at a time. The time periods became longer and turned into month, and one trip even lasted two years.
Tsahik had asked her where she would go and Tanu'ley said she traveled to find new land and other clans. She would observe them, learn from them and then continue in her travels.
To say the truth Tom was so excited for her to tell him all about it. His thirst for knowledge only second to his loyalty to Jake. She indulged him and took him along on long flights with her Ikran, to places that neither Human nor Na'vi traveled. She showed him exotic plants (even for Pandora's high standards) that were very hard to find, but she had found them by observing the wildlife.
He told her that if she were a human, she'd be great as an explorer, scientist or wildlife photographer, the last one especially, because that woman could just stand in the open and blend in so well that most would not have noticed her. That skill scared Tom so much that he actively conditioned himself into keeping part of his attention trained on her at all times. She just laughed at him , unrestrained, for several minutes. Tom admitted that this woman was very beautiful when she laughed like this.
On a rather daring day, Tom asked Tanu'ley to show him the base of the humans again. She reluctantly complied but told him right away that they would not get close. There were several reasons that could make her to say this but Tom was curious to know why. She told him that she had the impulse the humans that came into her line of fire abut she had created a lot of trouble in the past, so Jake had to forbid her to kill humans when they weren't on a mission. During that time she received the official Title as the "village crazy", before she still had it, but no one would mentioned it to her face.
Tom asked why she didn't hate him, he had been human for all his first life after all. It took her some time to reply to that but when she did it sounded earnest.
"Your heart is Na'vi, just like our Olo'eyktan. You are very different from him, but the great mother accepted Jakesully as well as Tomassully into her world." She had looked at him with a glint in her eyes that Tom could not decipher, so he let the topic fall.
The first only base of the humans had now multiplied to 15 different ones. They had spread like a plague and wherever they went, destruction followed. Dark crates stretched through the forest landscape, like scars on skin and Tom felt anger bubble up in his chest like black tar.
He praised his brother for fighting so valiantly against them, but Jake was honourable while fighting. There were smart battle strategies that he used but his genius in battle had never turned into cruelty.
The humans did have some advantages with their technology and their ruthlessness. That did not change the fact that they came to a planet their bodies would not be able to adapt to.
He was sure that there were people in those bases that were good and kind and did not deserve to die, but Tom was already planning their demise. Eywa had given him a conscience, but his years on earth gave him experience of his capabilities without it. He would have to talk to the deity again, to make sure his plans of ruthless slaughter were okay in her book.
Tanu'ley noticed his face and turned back, before both of them would do something stupid.
He looked at the plants in a different way now. Before he had seen beauty with the ability to heal, now there was beauty with the ability to heal and destroy.
He vowed that if Jake ever asked him to eliminate all humans on earth, he would. Jake got them to retreat for a couple of years but Tom would multiply the havoc his brother had done if they ever motivated him.
Where Jake had been righteous in his fighting, Tom was tending into being cunning and cruel if infuriated.
Summary:
Tom visits Mo'at and asks her to teach him the ways of a healer and spiritual guide. With the help of the great mother, Tom learns to sense and heal people. One day, he meets Tanu'ley, a young woman who was mentally scarred the Hometree fell and her parents died. She has not recovered from the shock and lives mostly in seclusion. Tom heals her and tells her that she is one of the people and beloved child of Eywa. Tanu'ley leaves the tent without another word, seemingly healed.
Mo'at then teaches Tom about the flora of the forest and how to create healing salves. Tanu'ley volunteers to take him to the woods to make sure he wouldn't get lost or killed. She starts pranking him, but Tom does not give her the satisfaction of seeing him off guard.
Tom explores the forest on Mo'at's command to find useful plants and herbs. Tanu'ley accompanies him, teaching him to fight and helping him find exotic plants. Tom asks Tanu'ley to show him the human base, and she reluctantly complies, warning him not to get too close. Tom feels anger towards the humans for their destruction of the forest, but also acknowledges that there are good people among them. He vows to eliminate all humans on earth if Jake ever asks him to, but worries about his own capability for ruthless slaughter. Tanu'ley notices his expression and stops him from doing something foolish.
I know that we see a very different side to Tom in this chapter but when I thought about what the movies show of earth, it was pretty much an overpopulated dystopian society. I personally don't think they held mental health in too high regard, so Tom, who also did not have an ideal childhood will be left with issues.
Personally I hold every kind of life in the highest regard, none of the things written here are based on my own convictions. There will be more chapters that will include violence but most of this story is fluff and therapy. For those chapters alone I think about moving up the rating, do tell if I should. I'm kinda unsure if I should. All of these chapters get a warning and a summary, so please take care of yourself and know your limits.
Safe reading everyone.
* there are several names for the Tree of souls, I chose the term in relation to whom was talking/thinking about it.