War Council
"Once we are finished here, messengers will be sent to every village on these islands. I expect many will answer the call. The Sky People caused great havoc during their search for you. Many will want justice for that. And once we tell them of what has been done to the Tulkun… I doubt there is a village that would not wish to avenge the crimes against our brothers and sisters. We will have thousands at our side then." Tonowari detailed.
"Very good. We are going to be needing every one. Any who will come." Jake said with a nod. "Neytiri, Lo'ak and I will be going back to the Omatikaya soon. I would ask you to take care of the rest of my family while we are gone, but I know that won't be necessary. Once there we will put out the call for our part. There are many who flew with me when I called them. If Toruk Makto calls to them, they will answer again. They suffered in the last war, so I had hoped to spare them… but it looks like the time has come."
"It will be an honor to fight alongside them. And the rest of your family will be safe with us. But Jakesully… my people are not well suited to the forest. Our skills are of as little use there as the ways of the Forest People are here." Tonowari pointed out.
"You taught us when we came here. And we learned. If it is needed, my people will teach yours in turn. My people are willing to be as patient with you as you've been with us." Neytiri responded.
"Exactly. And it might be a good idea for you to teach more of the Forest People's your ways, if you are willing to. Things will be easier if we can move and fight in each other's lands when needed. But to start with it might be better if we work together but fight them separately. You can fight them at sea, while we fight them in the forests." Jake added in.
"You need to hit them with quick raids. Attack where they are weak and disappear before they can retaliate. And we will keep on doing that until staying here costs them more than leaving would." He detailed.
"Is that necessary when if so many rally to us? Should we not simply strike them where they dwell, and end this quickly?" Ronal suggested.
Jake shook his head. "I have been close to that place a few times while scouting. That place is a fortress of immense size. Difficult to even believe unless you've seen it with your own eyes. And its defenses are strong. Any force that would attack it directly could end up slaughtered. Even if we had every clan that exists on our side… I would not be confident of attacking them head on."
Ronal scoffed. "You think too highly of the skills of the Sky People. I was not very impressed of them in our last battle."
"With respect don't read too much into that. You faced only a small number. And Payakan threw them off balance with his attack. You fought an enemy that was confused and didn't really know what kind of an enemy you are." Jake replied.
"Now, the Sky People are blind to a lot of things," He added, giving a nod to Neytiri, which she acknowledged. "but the one thing they know how to do is learn from the mistakes they make in battle. They adapt, just like anyone. They'll be better prepared next time."
"You bested them in a great battle once. And I hear in smaller clashes since. Yet you are concerned?" Tonowari asked. There was no accusation in his voice, just a wish to understand. He too wished to adapt if he was going to be fighting this enemy again.
Jake sighed. Of course. The clans that had not taken part in the battle knew only that he had brought a great victory against the Sky People. "…I see I need to explain how that battle really went. It was Eywa that won that battle for the most part. Our side put up a good fight, but the Sky People proved too much. We would have lost the battle had She not decided to intervene."
Neytiri cast her eyes down. She remembered that day all too well. How close they had come to losing everything until hope had been restored to them.
"Eywa… truly fought at your side that day?" Ronal asked. She was trying to keep it from her voice, but she sounded awed. That their Great Mother had chosen sides in war was unheard of.
Neytiri nodded. "The creatures of the forest became her army. And they overwhelmed the Sky People."
"Even then it was a close call, since their largest machines were nearly impervious unless one turned their own weapons against them. But with Her help we won." Jake said.
"…Will she come to our aid again?" Ronal asked.
"Hard to say. She has kept on defending the Tree of Souls and we have been able to make an advantage of that. But She has not joined our fight anywhere else. My guess is the Tree of Souls is the only place she is willing to defend. Beyond that she is not going to take sides."
"Attacking them in an open battle would be a mistake. That's where they are at their best. And in that case they would get a chance to kill all of us at once, which is exactly what they would want to do. But I believe raiding them over time will work. Their way of life, their way of war… it requires a constant flow of things. Vast amounts. Cutting off that flow is like cutting an artery. They'll starve to death without it. And to them this is all about amassing wealth. It's why they've come here. If we disrupt that and make this world more trouble to them than it is worth, then they will leave us alone.
"Are there any other allies that could join us? The Tulkun maybe? Payakan fought well in our last battle. The rest of his people could be of great help to us." He then asked.
"That is not their way, Jakesully, as I explained to your son. Violence for any reason is forbidden among them." Tonowari said.
"I had hoped they would change their minds. The RDA won't care that they've sworn off violence. To them that only means the Tulkun are easier to kill. You've seen that." Jake said.
"I have. And in their place… I might reconsider." Tonowari admitted. I suspect there will be discussion among them. But it is not an easy thing to overturn countless ages of tradition. Not even for them. Perhaps especially for them. They will not reach a decision soon. And I cannot promise that they will decide in favor of our cause. Either way, until they have decided my people will stand on their behalf. They may have sworn off violence, but we have made no such promises."
Jake nodded slowly. "Then I hope that is going to be enough. The clans we call upon may bring word to others in turn. More may come to our side over time. Until then we have to make do with what we have."
Neytiri paused to consider before speaking up. "Wait. There is one possibility we might consider. We might seek to make contact with the Ash People."
Both Tonowari and Ronal hissed at her while Jake looked at the scene in confusion.
"You'd turn to them for aid? Those creatures?" Ronal demanded.
"I know how that sounds like. But these are difficult times. To survive them we may need to make choices we otherwise would not make. We already have." Neytiri countered.
"The Ash people? I've never heard of this clan. Who are they?" Jake interjected.
He got surprised looks from the others.
"You truly don't…? I… suppose in your case you might not." Neytiri said.
"Pardon our surprise. It is rare to find someone who does not know at least something of them. While they belong far in the past, the mark they left behind is not easily forgotten." Tonowari said.
"I have heard tales that far from your forests there are first vast rolling plains of grass, then a land of deserts and volcanoes. That is where the Ash People dwell. Their lands are harsh, with not much game. And the People that dwell there grew as hard as their lands." He explained.
"The land is also said to be so barren there that Trees of Voices cannot take root there. Certainly not the underwater kind that we have here. So their bonds with Eywa were never particularly strong." Ronal added.
"You don't seem to like them very much. Why is that?" Jake asked.
"I mentioned to you long ago that my grandfather's grandfather was Toruk Makto before you. That he brought the clans together in a time of great sorrow. It was the Ash People that brought that sorrow upon us." Neytiri explained.
"Their lands may have been lacking much, but the one thing they had in abundance was metal, which they learned to craft. They betrayed Eywa, broke her laws. It made them very powerful. And without Eywa's guidance… they turned greedy. Just like the Sky people. They began to send war parties to lands of other peoples, to demand tribute and take by force what their lands didn't have." She continued. "There was a time when their raiders seemed invincible. That they could take whatever they want, and no one could stop them. But then Toruk Makto came. He brought the clans together and started a great war to drive the invaders away.
"Our ancestors fought them too, when the Ash People sought to come to our shores. We may have fought them separately, battling in our own worlds, not knowing of each other's struggles. But without a doubt our cause was one that day." Tonowari said.
"I take it was a long war?" Jake guessed.
Neytiri nodded. "The Toruk Makto of that time fought for most of his life before he ever saw it end. Battle after battle was fought in those days, year after year. And many lives were lost on both sides. Seek them, and you will find countless songs from those times. Songs that speak of great courage. And of terrible sorrows. Once we thought no darker days could ever befall us."
"But eventually the Ash People were bled enough that they were forced to relent in their pursuit of war. They retreated back to their own lands, and no one has heard of them since. But none who have dared to enter their lands have ever returned. All Na'vi know that." Ronal said.
"And now you would seek them out? You'd bring those monsters back to our lives?" Ronal demanded of Neytiri.
"I know what I am suggesting. I understand that the Ash people are monsters. But I still call the Sky People the greater threat. Not even the mightiest raiding party of the Ash People could hope to bring down a Hometree. Yet the Sky People did exactly that in mere minutes." Neytiri countered.
"The Ash People broke the laws of Eywa! All of them. We should have nothing to do with those who commit such sacrilege." Ronal argued.
"They have broken the laws, yes. But… so have the Omatikaya. At Jake's direction we have been using the weapons of the Sky People against them. You can't have failed to notice he bears such a weapon too. Yet I don't see you questioning an alliance with us." Neytiri replied.
Jake winced. Now was perhaps not the best time to bring that up…
"I hated it when we first started doing so. But I now see the wisdom. Better a temporary violation now than to remain stuck in our ways until our enemy has destroyed everything we love. Eywa's laws exist so the Great Balance is protected. I tell you there is no greater usurper to that than the Sky People. I have little good to say of them, but I'd like to think I'm not fool enough to ignore their strength. Hard to do so after their machines descended from the sky and set our forest aflame. Jake speaks the truth: We need all the strength we can find against that. And perhaps to fight monsters we need monsters of our own."
"The Ash People are part of this world too, even if we might wish that they were not. And the Sky People would be a threat to them too. Surely they can understand that much?" She added when she saw the others hesitate.
An uneasy silence followed as they pondered on her suggestion.
"Even if it is truly so, and we need them… how would you seek them out? You already know none who have dared to approach their lands have ever returned home. Where would you find the fools willing to try it again?" Tonowari asked.
"That… I admittedly don't know yet. But were we truly to need this I'm sure we could find those bold enough to try. If it has to be I might be willing to go myself."
"Then I would mourn for you. It would be your last journey. It is folly to even to consider this. Our enemy today is enough. We don't need to add another by resurrecting ghosts of the past." Ronal said.
"It's something to ponder." Jake said after a moment of consideration. "We don't need to decide this today. We can start this fight as we are, with what we have. And if things start to get bad we can come back to this, give it a second look. At that point we'll know if it's worth it."
A pause, after which Ronal and Tonowari nodded. This was a compromise they could get behind for now.
Jake was about to continue onto the next topic when he froze at a new sound he heard. It invoked an old, distant memory, of wars on Earth. The others had paused too, unsure of what was happening, though even they could recognize the sound of Sky People's machinery. In Neytiri the sound invoked an image of Hometree on fire, coming apart under a relentless attack. The death of her father and so many others…
Jakes eyes went wide as he saw the missiles streaking toward them.
"Down!" He had time to shout, tackling Neytiri. Then the world around them shattered in a terrible cacophony of noise.