Ivory shivered in the early evening air, rubbing a hand over the goosebumps that were beginning to rise on her arms. "What did you say the Na'vi wanted?" She asked, her combat boots crunching noisily as they made their way through the forest to where the clans were staying.
Jake shrugged his enormous blue shoulders. "They didn't tell me."
Ivory veered sharply to the left as Jake swung his avatar's arms. "Are you trying to break my skull before we get there?"
"Naw, no point when the war is probably goin' to do that to us anyway."
"I don't want to die from a broken skull, that's lame. I'd rather get shot a fuck ton. Maybe with arrows, like that guy in the film that Norm never shuts up about."
"Boromir?"
"That's the one. Although I think I'm probably just going to get burned to death with one of Quaritch's fire bombs. Or blown-" the woman broke off.
"Are you okay?" Jake asked, stopping to look at Ivory who suddenly looked stricken.
"Yeah I'm fine. Let's just keep moving."
Ivory pulled her hoodie further around herself as she stood watching the Na'vi ready themselves for battle, her dark eyes glazing over as she struggled not to think of the last war that she had fought in. When Ivory thought about it she realised that almost every problem she had ever had could be traced back to war. The-
"Ivy?"
The woman jumped. "Tsawke?"
The Na'vi nodded. "If d-defend us must wear mark of Omaticaya clan."
"The mark of the clan?"
Tsawke gestured to the woven bowls at her feet that were full of red, yellow and black paint. "We make from plants."
Ivory nodded.
"Take off." Tsawke pointed at the hoodie that Ivory had stolen from Grace.
Ivory pulled the hoodie off and knotted it around her waist.
"Are read- willing die in war?"
"Yes, I'm willing to die fighting."
The Na'vi nodded. "Then get yellow paint." She dipped her fingertips into one of the bowls and ran her fingers over Ivory's right arm, creating swirling bands of colour. "What h-happen?" She asked as she ran the paint over the lumpy landscape of scars on Ivory's arm.
"War."
"Ivy is warrior?"
"I was in the military."
"Military?" Tsawke dipped her hand into the red paint and began to add red stripes to the woman's shoulder.
"It's... like a clan." Ivory explained carefully.
Tsawke nodded. "My clan, Omaticaya are warrior. We fight with you." She placed an enormous hand on Ivory's left shoulder. The Na'vi's fingers stretched all the way up to the woman's neck, leaving a scarlet four fingered handprint behind. "There. You bear mark of Na'vi." She bent down and picked up a bowl.
"For face." Tsawke held out the bowl of black paint. "Jakesully paint when inside."
"Inside?" Ivory asked blankly. "Oh, when I can have my exopack off."
Tsawke nodded. "Jakesully know how to do. You are finished."
"Um." Ivory untangled her hair from the strap of her exopack, trying to remember what Grace had taught her. "Irayo."
"Doctor Grace is teaching you?"
"She's trying to."
"Doctor Grace taught Na'vi English once but... school go before finish learning." The grin vanished from Tsawke's face. "Humans destroy everything."
A/N: I'm writing this in debt with a hairbrush stuck in my hair so I'm going to live vicariously through space lesbians from now on