Recombinant Bridgehead

Anurai

The silvery lustre of Polyphemus' moons, or ayoare, illuminated the night sky. Jake and his banshee soared over the misty scape. His loyal mount was dubbed "Bob," a name embossed on the leather patch of his macramé collar. It was the extent of Jake's abilities in the art and his proudest creation. The ikran's four wings pounded the air as he raised his rider high over the cumulus to roll down its cottony bluff. Jake hooted in excitement as the air rushed past his ears. With the growing war and tensions building in the clan, he took this time to appreciate what he loved the most about his Na'vi life: flying.

"C'mon, Bob. I know you're stuffed." He could feel through their link that the animal was growing tired. The loyal beast uttered a guttural coo as Jake patted him. "Keep going, boy. The Anurai are just ahead." Bob flicked his head, and they followed the wind to the savannahs in the distance.

The grassy plains transformed into an ivory forest. For centuries, the Anurai would forage for animal bones to add to their sacred graveyard. These unchallenged artisans of Pandora would work them into astonishing crafts highly valued across the moon.

Jake landed Bob in a quiet clearing and headed for the Anurai's camp on foot, trying to ignore the dead sentries watching him.

The Anurai were known to reconstruct skeletons of revered animals into life-sized totems that could move on an axis. The night's mist seeped into the chambers of their rib cages, and the slightest breeze stirred them. Occasionally, a jaw would lower as if the animal's spirit was returning to roar.

It was a surreal experience for Jake, walking down the lanes of the beautiful but eerie necromantic zoo. He was passing one of a palulukan, the fiercest land animal known to Na'vi and the most revered by the Anurai, when a stray breeze moved the articulated remains. Jake lurched back as the totem swayed upward. Its skull eclipsed the alabaster moon, and a haunting, white light shone through the empty eye sockets. Its distensible jaw then flung open, flashing all of its wicked teeth before Jake.

Staring at the teeth, he was taken back to his first day operating his avatar. Accompanied by Dr. Augustine and his friend Norman, they were exploring the jungles, hoping to make contact with the Na'vi. Instead, Jake stumbled upon the nightmare his people called "dry mouth bringer of fear." Humans knew it as thanatora ferox. The monstrous panther, with its insatiable appetite, gave up on its hunt and came circling towards Jake. Its muscles rolled under its sleek black hide as it readied to pounce, and the avatar did the only thing he could—run.

The six legs overtook his two, and Jake had to slide for the protection of prop roots, but the beast gnashed away at his shelter, ripping off whole chunks like it were putty. Supine and kicking himself away from the claws, the would-be meal fired back, but the assault from Jake's machine gun only enraged the beast. It flared its crest and started digging with a newfound vengeance. Jake had no choice but to flee from his compromised shelter and dash for the bluff, where, by a hair's width, he escaped the snapping jaws through a leap of faith. Jake dove feet first into raging rapids that tossed him like driftwood until he gained purchase of a shore. Slumped in exhaustion and waters crashing against his back, the man listened to frustrated yowls echoing in his pounding ears.

Jake returned to the present day. He gulped, feeling silly for getting startled so easily and followed the sound of drums to the Anurai camp.

The Anurai were a zebra-striped people of the plains, with broad straw collars and hair teased up in mohawks. That night, the village was busy performing a special constellation dance. Their dancers, mimicking the stars, would move about the arena in accordance with their rotation. The clan adored the heavens and turned star-gazing into an art form. That's why they favoured the plains, for it granted them an unobstructed view of the night sky. Masters in both artistry and astronomy, Leonardo da Vinci would have found his kindred among the brilliant Anurai.