Recombinant Bridgehead

Tawkami

Direhorses of indigo bucked their beautiful slender heads as they carried their fair riders down a jungle path. Leading the party was Mo'at, who wore an ornate burgundy shawl. Neytiri was just behind, similarly dressed and maintaining a straight posture despite the bumpiness of the terrain. Kiri was lagging in the back with a heavy heart and lowered head.

Neytiri could not ignore the unhappiness of her daughter and slowed down to ride abreast of her. |"Cheer up, Kiri. Just think, you will be spending days in the fresh, open air again."|

Kiri weakly exhaled and bobbed her head.

|"Who knows, maybe you and Mother will learn new healing concoctions, and when you come back, you can teach me,"| she coaxed her with a shoulder nudge. |"You will like being with them. The Tawkami are a fine people. Your mother admired them greatly. They saved her life once, you know?"|

Kiri perked up in surprise.

|"It was back when I was a child. One day, a terrible consumption sickness befell all us children. And because your mother's Dreamwalker body was as young as a child, she caught the sickness too. All our symptoms pointed to syekalin flower poisoning, but it was not in season. So, unable to find a cure, Grandmother Mo'at travelled with Mother Grace to the Tawkami clan for aid. It was there the medicine women suspected the illness was because we were not inhaling enough of the syekalin."|

Being very familiar with the dangers of that infamous flower, the little botanist cocked her ears.

|"I was told, later on, that we were actually being afflicted by a different poison caused by the Skypeople, and the effects of the syekalin countered it. When Mother was training me to be tsahìk, she told me this full story to teach me how poisons don't have cures, but rather... Hmm..."| As Neytiri tried recalling the exact wording, Kiri tapped her hand.

"Opposites?"

|"Yes. She's been teaching you well, I see."|

She nodded proudly. "How did the Tawkami learn the flower was the antidote?"

|"By submerging your mother in a whole field of them. It was very risky, but it worked."|

"She sounds so brave to have done that."

Neytiri chuckled. |"Actually, my daughter, she was unconscious the whole time."| When the mother noticed the levity did not lighten the mood, she studied her daughter more intently. |"Do you not feel brave, Kiri?"|

She shook her head. "I run from danger."

|"Mmm. There were times when I've run away too."|

Kiri pointed at her. "You?"

|"Yes. I once ran away from your father when he needed me most. It fills me with shame to think about. I told myself I would never let fear stop me again, but to face my dangers with a strong heart."|

"I thought you never suffered fear. That is why I always wanted to be like you."

|"Me? I thought you wanted to be like your mother?"|

"But that is you."

Neytiri's brows slowly raised like the corners of her mouth.

|"I see the village ahead,"| Mo'at declared. |"Wear smiles, my children. Let the Tawkami see we are courteous guests."|

Kiri inhaled in preparation for the grin she had not the heart to make. They wound their way down into a clearing where they stood before the village entrance. A row of thin trees had a vine net threaded between them to form a protective wall against predators. As Mo'at stood in wait, a mesh curtain was drawn back by two Na'vi wielding long shepherd hooks. A golden ray of sunshine poured through the gap and fell upon the travellers. A Na'vi sentry stepped through the light. He wore a long grass skirt, and his hair was decorated with pointed flowers. Equipped on his belt were the Tawkami's weapons of choice: blades, poison darts, and green orbs that Kiri identified as blinding bombs. Despite his formidable trappings, he also wore an inviting smile and waved them on in before Mo'at had a chance to explain their coming. Surprised and delighted by this inexplicable welcome, she led her procession through the illuminated gate.