Messengers
Kiri floated in the dark, her mind scorched to the bone. She felt her thoughts drifting away one by one, glowing embers slowly dimming into nothing.
"Am I dying?" She wondered. She would not be surprised if this was what it felt like.
"Kiri…" She heard a gentle voice, feeling the warmth of what felt like sunlight on her skin. And the voice itself… it was unlike anything she had ever heard. Countless generations of loving mothers, speaking to her at once. It stirred an emotion so profound in her heart it was almost too much to take.
"Kiri… wake up, Kiri. Wake up." The voice continued on.
She opened her eyes, finding herself on her back on the ground, looking up at a sky made leaden from heavy clouds. She got to her feet, and saw that the land was bare and grey as well, coated in a thick layer of ash. Blackened, leafless trees dotted the landscape, reaching upwards like bony hands. The silence was deafening…
Her eyes moved around the scene for several seconds, then her legs gave away, and she fell on her hands and knees, sobbing.
"Do not give in to despair, daughter. This is not the end. Not yet." The voice said from somewhere ahead. And Kiri raised her head.
A figure was approaching, with unhurried steps. It was… difficult to see the figure clearly. It seemed to change eye blink to eye blink. In one moment she looked like Neytiri. In others, like Grace's avatar. In others still she was like the human Grace. It was like her mind had difficulty deciding what she was seeing.
"Mother…" She heard herself utter.
In all three appearances the being had the vines of a Tree of Voices weaved around her, forming her clothing. They gave the being a strange, ethereal glow. They flowed behind her like a cape, in a wind that seemed to only exist for this entity. There was no sound in the being's footsteps, and no footprints were left on the ground. Instead with each step grass and flowers grew, leaving a line of green in the greyness.
Before Kiri the being halted, smiling at her. Kiri's words were stolen from her tongue, so she simply stared in awe.
"I'm so glad you live. There have been dangers aplenty." The being told her. She offered her a hand. On instinct Kiri took it, and the being pulled her to her feet and embraced her.
"Hope yet remains, because you do." The being said.
She then released Kiri from her embrace, turning serious. "And survive you must. The others shall need you now. The silence shall be hard on them. It will bring them despair. Many may become undone. You must be a bearer of a seed of hope for them. A bearer of a promise that a new morning will come. That this sorrow will one day end." The being said.
"They're killing us. The Sky People. They're destroying everything we care about. And they're so strong. How can we stop them?" Kiri asked, finally finding her voice again.
"Aye. A dark night has begun. My faraway sister's lost children are crossing the black chasm to reach here. Seeking shelter and ever hungry, the People of the Sky do descend among us, blind to what they do. A sickness from the stars they've become. The rain that never ends. For now, their rot spreads, for I lie broken." The being said somberly. "But you can lift this curse. You can bring together what has been shattered. And then you will be able to choose… what deserves to be saved."
The being raised a hand, placing her palm on Kiri's chest. "For you see, my daughter… what I am, what remains, the promise of my return… it resides within you."
By some instinct Kiri looked down, and gasped. Green grass and flowers in every color imaginable now grew at her feet as well.
"You… you feel like… mother. But… you're not Grace. And you're not Neytiri. Who are you?" Kiri asked.
But the being just smiled mysteriously. "Go now, Seed Bearer. You have much to do. Much to learn. Much to discover. Go, daughter, and return to the world."
Kiri's eyes opened for a second time, to a blurry face right above her. Little by little her eyes regained their focus, recognizing Tuk. Her little sister smiled with relief, then turned to speak over her shoulder:
"Tsireya! Tsireya! Kiri is awake!"
In seconds Tsireya was there too, cradling Kiri's head.
"Kiri… welcome back to us. We were worried about you." Tsireya said, smiling down at her.
Kiri swallowed to ease the parched feeling in her throat, licking her lips. "What happened to me?"
"You lost consciousness after… some kind of wave of pain hit all of us. That was three days ago." Tsireya explained.
"Three days?" Kiri breathed. Then she winced, bringing a hand to her forehead. "Unggh… my head. It hurts."
"Yeah. We're all going through the same thing. Here. There are some herbs mixed in this that should help ease the headache, if only for a few hours." Tsireya said, holding Kiri's head up and bringing a cup to her lips. After drinking Kiri plopped her head back down.
"Where's Lo'ak?" She asked.
"He's speaking with the Olo'eyktan here. Informing him of the attack. We agreed to watch over you in the meantime. He'll be very relieved to know you're all right." Tsireya explained.
"Yeah, after three days… I'm not surprised he was worried. How long were the rest of you out?" Kiri asked.
Tuk and Trireya exchanged looks. "We weren't. That's why we were so worried. We didn't know why you had it worse." Tuk said.
"Wait… only me? This didn't happen to you? To any of you? At all?" Kiri asked, frowning.
Tsireya shook her head. "Just the pain. Then the headache after. And the images…"
Tsireya did not need to explain what images she meant. Kiri's expression became pained, hand rising to her head again. "These memories… wh… what is this? I remember… what have they done? What did the Sky People do!?"
"We… we don't know. No one does. Everyone felt it. Everyone saw it. Everyone, everywhere. But…we don't understand. We don't know what it means." Tsireya said, fear and worry entering her voice as she explained.
The trio head footsteps and saw Lo'ak returning.
"Lo'ak! Kiri is awake!" Tsireya said. On hearing that he accelerated into a run, rushing to Kiri, kneeling down and scooping her up into a tight embrace.
"Kiri! You're awake! You're alright! You're ok…" He mumbled.
"You are ok, aren't you?" He asked, his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.
"Y-yeah. I'm good. At least… I'm not doing worse than anyone else here." Kiri said, slightly bewildered by the overwhelming attention.
"Sorry to scare you like that." She apologized.
"So? How'd it go with the Olo'eyktan?" Tsireya asked of Lo'ak.
Lo'ak sighed. "He'd be willing to join Ronal's side as such. But he thinks the Sky People are too close. He worries that if he sends his warriors away his own village would be left unprotected."
"He won't be able to stop them alone. There is no way he can muster enough warriors." Tsireya said.
"I tried to tell him that very thing but he wouldn't budge. And since I couldn't even tell him where to send his warriors… it all dried up after that." Lo'ak said.
"And their Tsahik had nothing to say about any of this?" Tsireya asked.
"There is no Tsahik here at the moment. She was connecting with a Spirit Tree here when it happened. She's… gone now. And the Tsakarem… she is just a kid. Not fully trained. Not ready to take over the job."
"Another one? Dammit…" Tsireya said.
"Wait… another!? This has happened elsewhere?" Kiri asked.
"This is the third village in as many days we've visited. In two we've now had Tsahiks who died while connecting with a Spirit Tree. In a third it was a group of villagers that had been doing the same. Several them of died as well. The rest of them… we're told their minds were broken by this." Tsireya explained.
"Great Mother have mercy…" Kiri gasped quietly.
"And the Sky People, they are on the islands still?" She asked next.
"They are. And we've heard rumors they've started attacking other villages." Lo'ak said.
"The Olo'eyktan did say we would be welcome to stay here while it's still safe." He added. "I was thinking we might leave for the next village tomorrow. But if you like, we could take a few days, let you recover fully." He continued, looking at Kiri.
Kiri shook her head. "We shouldn't. Not just for my sake at least. If the Sky People are attacking other villages there is no telling when they might think to come here. Awa'atlu showed their attacks can be very sudden. If we are done here then we should get ready to move on."
"Are you sure?" Lo'ak asked.
"I've been out cold for three days straight. I think that's enough rest. And keeping moving is the best way for us to be safe right now. I'll be ready to go when the rest you are." She said.
He paused, then nodded. "Tomorrow morning then."
"I'll go ask around if we can get some food. We're all hungry." He continued, though it was obvious he mostly meant Kiri. And after three days she had to agree food would be very welcome.
"Wait. I'll do it. You've done enough for one day. And you deserve to spend some time with your sister now that she is awake again." Tsireya said.
"Okay. Thanks." Lo'ak said, giving her a soft smile.
Kiri waited until Tsireya had left. "Um, by the way… I know we all saw the same images of when the Tree of Souls was destroyed. But did any of you… see anything else afterwards? A vision of someone that came to talk to you?"
A puzzled silence from Lo'ak and Tuk.
"No. Nothing like that. Why?" Tuk finally said.
Kiri looked away, shrinking in on herself a bit. "I… it's nothing. Maybe it was just a dream…"
Sometime later Tsireya came back with food. They ate their fill and spent the rest of the day amongst themselves, doing their best to come to turns with what had been happening lately. Of the vision she had seen Kiri said nothing further. She needed to understand what it meant first, if indeed it had been more than an elaborate dream. And she didn't want the others to start thinking that she was losing her mind. The thought that she actually might be was enough to frighten her to put aside all notions of talking about this.
Their night passed slowly, none of them sleeping much. The thought that the Sky People were still here, possibly close by, made them search the horizon for signs of them and imagine the noise of their machines on the wind, the thoughts of their enemy even intruding into their dreams. Thankfully their headaches were starting to ease off at least.
Fortunately for all the unease the night passed uneventfully, and come the morning they made themselves ready to leave. Although this was what they had planned, there was a strange sense of melancholy. A sense of being uprooted, homeless… they felt it keenly in this moment.
A few villagers came to speak to them, offering them a chance to stay longer, until things calmed down. Perhaps longer than that. To make this a home to replace the home they had lost. They were just children after all. And it was a tempting offer in some ways. An offer of stability amidst this chaos. But they knew better. There was no safe place while the Sky People still roamed the islands. No starting anew while the threat remained. And with their surviving parents still missing… they could not feel whole without them. No place would really feel like home until they were found.
As a parting gift they were permitted to take a number of the local Ilu to as their rides. The Olo'eyktan himself came to wish them well before they left, making sure they had enough supplies for the journey. Though they had not gained allies for the war here… from this village they left as friends.
Payakan also joined them once they reached open water. It was undeniably a comfort to have the big guy with them. It made them feel a bit more confident at a time where they needed every scrap.
What followed was weeks moving from village to village, bringing warning, offering and receiving news, doing their best to rouse the people to band together, to fight. They never stayed in one place for longer than a day. If any of them sensed danger from any source they often left far sooner than that. And a good thing too. A few times they had reached a neighboring village, only to hear the humans had struck only hours after they had left.
Still worse were the villages where they arrived only after the Sky People had already paid a visit. They made a point of searching the villages where the destruction appeared relatively recent. Tuk always stayed at shore for those instances. Ostensibly she was looking after their Ilu, but in truth it was to shield her from the worst of it. Now and then battered survivors that had managed to hide form their adversary turned up, providing them some of the few bright spots in these weeks. Those they found they brought to villages they knew were still safe. It felt good to know they may have helped to save at least a few lives.
They were thankfully spared any first hand encounters with their enemy, but they heard plenty of stories. The tales they were told spoke of heavily lopsided battles, Metkayina and Ta'unui struggling to gather a large enough force to oppose the army of Sky People they faced. The said army had apparently grown larger still, as impossible as that seemed. And where the People sought to gather strength, the humans seemed quick to find out, and quick to strike. The local leaders were completely baffled by the ability of the Sky People to find them out. But Kiri and Lo'ak had discussed this amongst themselves and agreed that the RDA probably had eyes in the air or even in space, giving them everything they needed to know.
Skilled as Na'vi warriors were, the RDA seemed to dominate any set piece battle where their control was not broken by the unforeseen. The more they heard the more their father's choices of quick raids and hiding within Eywa's protection made sense. Now they knew why he had been so worried by pursuit from the Sky People.
There was a second rumor they had started hearing, far more disturbing than the first. In the wake of the first attack and the bombing of the Tree of Souls, many had sought guidance from Eywa, from their ancestors. But when they sought to connect with the spirit trees, their ancestors were a scattered blur, almost impossible to consult. Of Eywa… even less was heard. A dread silence lingered. The Tsahiks and Olo'eyktans tried to reassure their own, telling them Eywa had simply withdrawn to think, to consider how best to respond to this atrocity. That she would soon return to bless them with her guidance once more. But the longer the silence went on, the more there were doubts and confusion.
With every village lost survivors were sent scrambling to the others, spreading the further the turbulence none on these islands could remember. With each new attack grew the disbelief that their enemy was still willing to continue. As the toll mounted a sense of despair began to set in. Were they being erased? Was that it? Was that what the Sky People wanted? Would nothing less satisfy them?
In their darkest moments Kiri often thought of her vision. The being she had spoked with had said she should not give in to despair. That in doing so she could be… what was it she had been called? A bearer of a seed of hope for the others. And strangely enough, whereas others were starting to feel like they had lost their connection to Eywa… for her it was as if nothing had changed. She could still feel her presence, as strong and reassuring as ever. Perhaps this was how then. This was how she could keep the others from despair. But she was still not certain what this meant. Or how to even begin explaining any of this to the others.
Like Lo'ak and Tuk she also thought of mom and dad, as well as their extended family left at High Camp. She wondered what had become of them. And of Spider. There was no way to get any answers, and it was killing her to not know.
They did what they could amongst all this. But it did not seem like they were accomplishing much. They were hardly the equal of their parents, from either family. Pretty soon every village already knew what was happening even without their efforts. And those who were willing to were already scrambling to respond. And they could not help the feeling they were acting without a plan. But in the process they heard something that gave them a measure of hope. Ronal was alive somewhere on the islands, doing her part to organize resistance against the Sky People. And scattered mentions of Aonung as well. At that point their focus shifted from being messengers to finding her. Tsireya in particular was more animated than ever by the prospect of a reunion with her family.
Trips to several more villages followed, finding clues about her trail. Finally they were pointed towards the village she was said to currently be in. For the first time daring to hope, they set off one more time…