reborn to pandora (reader pov)

hunt.

upon our return, priya was waiting outside along with a few other humans. they look like doctors. so'lek must've radioed to priya on our way here, telling her about neteyam's condition. once ri'nela and i land, they had already taken him inside on a bed with wheels, straight to the hospital wing. jake and lo'ak rush inside with them, while the rest of us linger outside, unsure of what to do now. all of us, standing around with blank faces. "he regained consciousness on the flight here..." so'lek began, "he seemed stable, coherent. just wounded." "is there anything we can do to help?" i ask. so'lek looks around aimlessly and then sighs deeply, shaking his head. "no. not really." neytiri spoke up a moment after, "the human's attempt on na'vi food is a disgrace. maybe we can go on a hunt today while he heals, and we can spare him a horrid meal." i liked that idea.

"will you teach us how to hunt big game?" ri'nela asks her. "and to cook a good meal?" i add. "i will teach you two anything you want to know, anything at all." speaking to neytiri is always calming, no matter how short the conversation may be. she has this quality about her, she makes you feel safe, grounded, confident. i would love to learn anything she can teach us. "well lets go then, i feel useless being here right now." i express. "we will need to fly to where the big game is, in the upper plains. make sure that your saddle bags are empty and your arrow pouches are full, we will leave in 20 minutes."

after those 20 minutes, we took flight for the upper plains. neytiri and seze are fast, so keeping up with them was important. while in the air, its hard to keep an eye out for RDA aircrafts when there is such gorgeous views coming from every angle. after looking ahead of us for a few minutes, we can see there are no air threats in sight. gazing down below us, i see so many different packs of so many different animals that i don't recognize. after about another 10 minutes, i can see that we're heading to land at the zeswa circle. probably a good idea to land at a familiar base. once landed, we make our formalities greeting neyfika and others of the clan before heading out to the vast, grazing grasses.

"both of you, keep your bows drawn at all times, use your senses to find the weak points in the armor of whichever creatures we come across. stay close to me, and step lightly." the sun is directly above us. hunting midday seems scary, no darkness to hide in, but again being with neytiri i feel confident. "are either of you picking up any scents?" as soon as she asks, my nose is inflamed with a strong unknown scent. "i think so, but i don't recognize it." i answer. "good, so we follow your lead." "uh...okay, this way.." leading my first real hunt is exciting but terrifying. i don't know what it is i'm heading towards, but neytiri wouldn't have us go this way if she wasn't sure that we would be okay.

the further we stalked, the stronger the scent became. after some time, i began to hear what sounded like moving water. sure enough, we were getting closer and closer to a small stream with even smaller falls within it. hiding in the tall grasses, neytiri goes ahead of me to point out a group of large animals on the bank of the stream. some of them drinking, some bathing. neytiri whispers to us, "these creatures are called bladeheads. they have large armored heads and strong legs, find their weak points, make a shot and stay still. if the others in the pack see where there is a threat, they will charge. there are four adults and two younglings. if each of us takes an adult, the rest should flee."

focusing on one of the bladehead adults, i carefully examine for any weak points, finding there is one behind the head armor, nearing its neck. before pulling my string to aim, i look beside me to see neytiri and ri'nela both readying theirs. neytiri draws back, and lets loose, taking one down. i aim next and release, taking another. at the same time, ri'nela took hers as well. "shhh still..." neytiri whispered once more. just as she said, the remaining adult and two young flee in the opposite direction, disappearing into the grasses afar. neytiri stands and begins walking towards our game, so we follow. now up close, i can see how well our shots did. all three identical to each other. neytiri speaks at a normal volume again. "wow... i've heard all the stories of the amazing sarentu hunters. never did i think i would have the chance to witness it myself." the three of us pull our arrows from the carcasses and bid them to eywa. "no hunter can ever take down game of this size on their first try. let alone having perfect shots. i knew that you had your ancestors within you." "thank you neytiri." ri'nela says. "thank you for believing in us, showing us the ways of the na'vi again. so many years in a metal prison had us unconfident." "you ARE na'vi. nothing can strip that from you. not even the sky people. now, let me show you how to gather these."

after another hour of skinning and carving, we each are left with about 70 pounds of lean meat, 6 feet of hide for clothing crafting, and 2 horns for weapon crafting or clothing accessories. taking it all back to the circle was a workout, but the payoff from it is a better feeling than sore muscles. before packing up and departing, we each gifted 50 pounds of our meat to the clan as a thank you for allowing us to hunt on their territory, taking home 20 pounds each.

"now, this hunt was successful," neytiri began, "but the real success is putting it to good use. let us get back before dark and i will show you how to cook and craft with these gifts."