I see you, Tsu'tey

Chapter 7

The group of hunters and Awa made their way across the training area atop their pa'lis, it was hunting day for them. The Na'vi hunters and warriors took turns on hunting, the groups were changing with each round. It was crucial that everyone could work and trust each other.

Khan was being particularly difficult today, he ran away from Awa when she tried to collect him before the hunt and he struggled during tsaheylu. Awa wasn't deterred, though, she had known the pa'li since he was a small colt and she knew that this was probably just him being rebellious. He very much like a child, or a rebellious teenager, and she had a ton of experience with those little devils.

"Come on Khan, don't be difficult. You love hunting!" She tried to convince her stubborn steed after he once again tried to rebel against her directions. "I'll even let you stay with your precious lady friend if you promise to be good"

The horse-like animal snorted in agreement and slowly all the defiance in him melted away and he became the kind and gentle pa'li that she loved. She rubbed a hand down his long neck and down a little part of his front legs. Awa then reached down into the small saddle bag she always insisted on bringing wherever she went. 'You never know when you might need something in here' she would always tell those that didn't want her to bring it. She took one small cube of Pandora's version of a sugar cube and gently reached forward and gave it to him. "Good boy" She whispered with a fond smile.

"You spoil him too much" Tsu'tey commented with a disapproving look on his face as he steered his pa'li, Nì'itan, closer to his bonded mate and pa'li. His direhorse was very possessive of her rider and once in the beginning before she got used to Awa she actually grabbed her and dragged her away. Now she usually only huffs and glares at the female Na'vi but nothing physical. She was a total sweetheart towards Tsu'tey, who was the only one that could ever make tsaheylu with her.

"I'm still training him, besides you spoil Nì'itan way more than I spoil Khan. Don't think I haven't seen you give her treats without reason" Awa retorted with a pointed look with a slight scolding tone in her voice. "You're a hypocrite, Tsu'tey"

The rest of the hunters chuckled when they overheard the conversation, no hunt could ever be boring when the both of them were there together. There was no way that they would not end up bickering or arguing. Sometimes they would prank their fellow hunters with either walking off without telling them or staging a big fight. Of course they were very serious when the actual hunting began but they liked to have a little fun before to keep the spirits up. None of them enjoyed the killing part of it, more of the stalking part and everything that leads up to the killing of the animal.

"If he's not spoiled then why does he behave like that? That's right, because he knows he will get treats if he stops" Tsu'tey contered with a smug look on his face and a small head tilt, making his hair fall over one side of his shoulder and the teeth in his necklace clink together.

"You know nothing, Tsu'tey te Rongloa Ateyitan" She joked and smacked her lips together. She and Khan both trotted away from the grinning male who eagerly followed her with a faux war cry. The rest of the hunters and coincidentally the same students that were present during the capturing of jake all urged their pa'lis to catch up with their leaders who already had gained quite a distance even with the slow trotting.

                                                                                                        ...

"What will we hunt today, teacher?" One of the more outgoing students asked Tsu'tey with a strong voice. The students needed to prove themselves all the steps of the way during their training. Tsu'tey's younger brother Arvok was one of the students that weren't as outgoing or brave as the others and often fell behind on things like this. He still couldn't draw his bow properly and he wasn't near making a clean kill.

"Awa?" Her mate directed the question over to her with a small shrug aimed at his student. She had been acting a little off ever since they had captured the dreamwalker and Tsu'tey didn't like it. It was bad enough that the dreamwalker was actually actively seeking out his mate despite everyone telling him to back off but that he had affected her like this made his blood boil. If Awa wasn't happy then Tsu'tey wasn't happy.

"Hm?" She asked distracted, she was staring into the forest with unfocused eyes. She shook her head and brought her head around to face the group of Na'vi students and hunters who all stared questionly at her, their eyes wide and curious. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"They asked what we're going to hunt, I told them to ask you. It's your turn to pick" Tsu'tey reminded her with a frown on his face, next time he sees Jake he was going to beat him to a pulp. Him and all those other skypeople who wouldn't leave her alone, she had gone through enough because of them. She still woke up crying in the middle of the night because of the things they did to her on the base. He sometimes caught her stroking a finger down certain places on her arms and legs where she on her human body used to have thick and gnarly scars. "Are you sure you're okay?" He leaned closer to her and whispered, tucking a braid behind her ear and pressing their foreheads together. His ears laid flat against his head in worry and he didn't care that his friends and students were still staring at him.

He was usually a very reserved person when it came to PDA and so was Awa but they weren't against holding hands or cuddling up against each other if they were in public. It wasn't unusual either to see Awa sitting on his lap or her being given a piggy back ride. When they were alone was a whole different story. Now on the other hand he had to somehow comfort her and the only way he knew how was to hold her and prove physical comfort and soothing words. He couldn't be as caring and open with her as he wanted to at the moment because of the watching eyes. He would do all he could to make her feel better later, maybe take their Ikrans for a flight, she loved flying. Worry bubbled up within him when she didn't respond or showed any signs of having heard him, maybe she was having a vision again.

"I'm fine, it's just... we'll talk about it later. I'm fine now, I promise" She answered with a soft smile, honesty shining in her eyes and lacing her voice. She was fine now, she often got these moments where she got really down and even though Tsu'tey was used to it by now it unnerved and scared him all the same. " Why don't we hunt some yerik (hexapede), that way we bring back nice meat and your students get some extra training"

Tsu'tey nodded and gave her a short peck on her lips before sitting tall in his seat again. "What are you looking at?!" He barked at his students who all scrambled up in their seats, trying to make it seem as if they hadn't been observing the affectionate moment the bonded pair had. "You should already be searching for yerik tracks, if you keep staring like that you will never get a bonding mate of your own."

The students all rushed in different directions, probably scaring off any yeriks in the area but they were all desperate to please their teacher. They had been in training long enough that they had to be able to search for tracks themselves and then send a signal to any of the hunters that were supervising them.

"When do you have to go back to Hell's Gate?" The warrior asked his mate with a sigh, he knew that she couldn't handle working for the RDA anymore but he understood that it wasn't easy quitting. They would without a doubt kill her next time they saw her and possibly do something to hurt Grace.

"Not for another week, I'm going to bring up the idea of quitting with Grace. I can't deal with all that and I can't be in that place without seeing and hearing what they did to me."Awa confessed to her mate with eyes on the forest ground, she was still processing and working through what happened to her. Tsu'tey and Atxa had been the main reasons she had gotten better so fast and the reason why she's improving by the day. "You don't have to worry about me"

"I always worry about you" He stated with a grin and glittering eyes. "You're going to give me grey hairs"

"I love you, Tsu'tey" Awa told the Na'vi with a large smile on her face and eyes slightly squinted in happiness.

"I love you too, Awa" He responded but then decided to ruin the moment by throwing a branch at her, laughing and then rushing off the other direction. 

AN: The actual hunt will happen in the next present time chapter :)