❊𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓭 𝓫𝓸𝔀𝓼❊
The crowd surrounding the Sullys finally disappeared after the Olo'eyktan greeted them with open arms and a smile in his face. Many rumors about what would happen to the current Olo'eyktan had appeared. But Zaytxe doubted that Jake Sully would immediately be named Olo'eyktan again, she thought that Jake would surely let the current leader keep his title until he saw it inevitable and necessary to change and with Tarsem's consent too.
Zaytxe headed back to her hut to get ready for the expedition to hunt down the stray Thanator. She had a special set of clothes that she would usually wear when she would go hunting or going on mission with the other hunters.
Her legs and feet were covered in brown-coloured leather-like material to keep her safe from anything hurting her legs, a bit higher up her thighs were covered in the commonly-used material the Omatikaya wore when they rode their Ikrans. For her loincloth a long dark-coloured cloth covered her, thanks to the straps that hung on her hips and connected in the back. Her arms were protected by thick material that was sewn together to cover her whole upper arm, a sharp knife was stored there for emergency purposes in case she was separated from her bow. Various cream-colored cloth bands covered her chest and intertwined each-other.
After finally being dressed and tying her braids into a hairdo with an ornamented thread to keep them out of her face, she grabbed her bow and arrows and went out to meet the group of hunters she would be going with. Only the best were sent on these type of missions which meant that everyone in her group would be skilled and hopefully not a nightmare to work with.
She stopped for a second and thought about meeting Kiri, but her facial expressions showed nothing but tiredness and desire for a long nap in her bed she probably missed. After a bit of pondering she decided she wouldn't be losing anything if she went to the Sully's hut to ask for her. If she was sleeping Zaytxe would simply head back to her first destination, and if she was awake she would hug her with all the strength in her body.
Once she had arrived at the hut she had set her eye on she knocked at the closed door made with the same material as the whole hard material-like cloth that was resistant. Since it was tightly closed knocking it wasn't useless since it made a weird reverberating noise that resonated through the living space inside of the hut.
Inside of the living space Neteyam and Jake heard the noise from outside, stopping the long lecture that Jake had been giving his eldest child for the last ten minutes. Neteyam's eyes lit up in hope of being able to escape what seemed to him as an hour long lecture. He excused himself and walk over to the door, opening it with crossed fingers to give him as much luck as possible regarding whoever was on the other side of the door. Hopefully it was someone that would tell them it was time to go because the group was already leaving.
Once it opened a well dressed Na'vi met his gaze. He assumed she would be accompanying him and the rest of the group during the hunt since the outfit she wore seemed ready for going out and keeping the forest and its many dangers at bay. She was looking in another direction, trying to see if she could see anyone else from the nearby huts leaving to join the hunt, but looked back quickly once she saw the fabric that acted as a door had been opened.
They both said "I see you" out of courtesy and Zaytxe said it to Jake who was leaving the living space to go into another room, he said it back and closed the door of the room he just entered.
"Hi, is Kiri awake by any chance?" Zaytxe asked, a neutral look on her face as she looked at a mission-ready Neteyam. He was wearing his usual band across his chest and ornate collar on his neck, he had his knife stored in a compartment on his left hip on his bottoms. His arms were protected by a thick leather-like material that went from under his elbows to before his wrists.
"Um, yeah I'm pretty sure she is" He said, a small smile lingered on his lips as he saw the person he had finally recognised as Kiri's friend. "Lemme ask, could I get your name? Just so she knows who's asking for her"
Zaytxe had to hold herself back from rolling back her eyes, of course she would remember his name and he wouldn't even know hers. It wasn't like it was the first time they saw each other, Zaytxe had come to the Sully's house to hang out with Kiri numerous times; not only that, but they trained together since they were kids. After the quick trail of thoughts she simply readjusted her position and spoke. "Zaytxe, my name is Zaytxe"
"Okay, if she's awake she'll be out in a minute" Neteyam quickly said before leaving and going to ask Kiri if she was awake. Zaytxe stood outside, her hands now intertwined with eachother and fidgeting to make the time past faster.
"Zaytxe!!" Screamed excitedly an easily recognizable voice that made the patiently waiting girl look up and a smile to spread on her lips as she saw the younger girl go towards her.
The hug between the two girls was warm and comforting, like a warm shower after a long day of winter. Three years had passed since they had hugged, not exactly but pretty much. Kiri leaned her head sideways during the hug to get as close to Zaytxe as she could. "I missed you so much Zaytxe!" She said, now content after having reunited with her friend.
"Me too Kiri, you better tell me all the stories of what happened while you were away" Zaytxe said as she separated from the hug, each of her hands on one of Kiri's shoulders. She was glad she had visited the Sully's hut to see if Kiri was awake. "I expected you to be asleep"
Kiri laughed lightly at Zaytxe's words "I was going to sleep but first I wanted to see the forest" She explained, a wide smile on her face. She was glad to be back home with the trees and the ferns. "I guess you can't come with me because you're going with the other hunters, right?"
"Yeah, sorry Kiri" Zaytxe said apologetically, she was going on this mission, but felt kind of bad that she couldn't accompany Kiri on her first day back. "We'll go some other day, ok?"
"Sure" Kiri agreed, accompanying her words with a sincere nod. "Hey, shouldn't you be going with the group of hunters? You wouldn't really want to miss where there going exactly"
"Oh yeah, I'll be heading off then" Zaytxe declared with a sad smile. She couldn't wait to see her friend again.
Neteyam, who sat on the warm floor in the living space as he readied his arrows and checked his bow, heard the end of his sister's conversation since he had just finished. He looked to his right and saw his dad approaching him again, he could not stand another lecture so he did what he thought would work to get out of there.
"Mind if I go with you?" He asked as he got up. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and right now leaving with Zaytxe was his best option. His question took Zaytxe by surprise, her brows furrowing in response. Neteyam made sure that Zaytxe was looking at him and quickly made a warning glance towards his dad and then outside, indicating that he wanted to leave.
Zaytxe thought about her options, if she helped she'd be betraying her younger self by helping he who had driven her crazy every time he won against her at almost everything. But don't people change? She decided to give him a chance, if he was still cocky about his wins in the future then she'll go back to not liking him again. As easy as that, right?
"Yeah, why not, come on" She said. His answer to her acceptance was immediate, the muscles in his face relaxed once again and he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He grabbed his bow and arrows and hung them on his back. As he passed Kiri he gave her a smile and placed his hand on her shoulder for a quick second. She smiled back at him and then at Zaytxe before exchanging a "Goodbye" to one another.
Both of them started walking until Zaytxe noticed something and slowed down until a stop."Isn't your dad going on the hunt?" She asked, did they just leave Jake Sully behind on purpose?
"Yeah he is, but the adults go a bit later, I think" He explained but insecurity seeped into his head. He had been away for three years, maybe they changed the order of things. "They still do that, right?"
"Oh yeah, I can't believe I forgot about that" She said as she laughed lightly, even quieter that a giggle. He wasn't in the clan for three years and he still remembered, but on the other side she had totally forgotten. "Neither of my parents go on missions so I kind of never pay attention to that factor"
Zaytxe and Neteyam kept walking toward the group of young hunters where they needed to go. A group of six hunters awaited with their Ikrans, four of them were boys and two were girls. They were all dressed with their special attires so that they could do their most without any piece of clothing bothering them. Everyone seemed to be at least a year older than them. Which made both of them feel pretty confident in their skills since they were younger but still qualified enough to go on the mission.
"Hey guys" Greeted one of the boys loudly so that Neteyam and Zaytxe could hear him properly since they weren't fully there yet.
The group seemed to be nice enough, which made Zaytxe grateful since she wouldn't have to deal with an unbearable group of other hunters and not be able to concentrate as much as she should on her own task. She didn't say anything though, too much people too soon. Maybe she might sneak in a couple of phrases as they day went on and she felt more comfortable, or maybe it would just take her an hour, she never knew how it worked. Sometimes she would immediately feel comfortable with some people, for example with Kiri. But with others it took her a bit more to actually have a full on conversation with them. So Neteyam spoke.
"Did they tell you guys any more information about the Thanator or are we still going in blind?" Neteyam asked as he looked at all the other hunters, Zaytxe included.
"We know the location, our father told us" A girl explained as she pointed to her and her brother beside her, they shared some similarities which were now even more evident because she shared their kinship.
"When are we leaving then? Asked the boy that hadn't spoken yet, he seemed impatient, which made Zaytxe make a mental note about it. As the conversation kept going Zaytxe just looked around and noticed that the girl that was situated more to the side was nervously picking at the skin around her nails. So when the group of hunters, including Neteyam, started walking to one of the adults that knew if they were allowed to leave and when, she approached the girl. She might've been nervous, but she wanted to help the girl that was even more nervous than her.
"Hi, I'm Zaytxe" Zaytxe said with a kind smile on her face.
" I'm Eupwe" The anxious girl responded. The second she spoke her hands separated and she stopped going at the skin beside where her nails were, her brows went to their normal position too, which made Zaytxe's smile grow a bit more thanks to her success in helping the girl.
"I'm a bit nervous, you?" Zaytxe asked, maybe if she could share her own thoughts Eupwe would feel more comfortable and less concerned.
" I'm really nervous, it's my first mission" Eupwe confessed, it was obvious that talking about it calmed her down.
"Well, I'm not the most experienced person out of here, but if you need anything you can ask me for help" Zaytxe explained, she loved giving advice to people. If only giving advice to herself would work. Eupwe nodded and her lips stretched into a small but grateful smile.
The group came back with new information after a bit as the two girls talked. They all walk back to their Ikrans and both Neteyam and Zaytxe called their own. Keo rubbed her head onto Zaytxe which caused her to giggle and Neteyam to look to his right to see the cause of the noise that crept into his ears.
"They said we could leave now if we wanted, I personally think we should, what do you guys think?" The impatient boy said, it looked like every second that he waited for the rest to respond was torture for him.
Everyone agreed one by one, even Zaytxe.
"Sure, let's go" She said, her body was already filling with excitement just by thinking of going out in the sky and the jungle and flying with Keo.
"Look at that, she speaks" Said the same boy that suggested to leave as he raised an eyebrow cockily. Resulting in an already fed up Zaytxe.
"She speaks when she wants to" Zaytxe deadpanned as she tilted her head slightly, she knew that this guy would just make the mission ten times more difficult, it always happened. If it wasn't someone impatient, it was someone arrogant, and if not someone who just wants to get the mission over with and doesn't even pay attention to his surroundings or does the expedition sloppily which ends up in chaos.
Some eyebrows were raised in response to her answer and she saw out of the corner of my eye Eupwe's smile growing even more. She failed to see though Neteyam's fixed gaze on her while everyone was mounting their Ikran after him.
Zaytxe connected her queue with Keo and got ready for someone to either take of or say it so that they could all take of together.
"Is everyone ready?" Asked Neteyam, all eyes on him for a second before everyone checked that their equipment was there and that it was where it should be, after everyone nodded in response he looked at the girl who knew the directions. "Lead the way"
And then everyone took of with their Ikrans and followed her out of High Camp to start the mission: try to figure out why the Thanator had left its natural environment and if its finished it time, help the adults to guide it back to its natural habitat.
Just working with one of Pandora's jungle's biggest predators, not scary at all, right?
A/N: Hello again! I don't know how often I'll do the author note thing but I might be doing it for every chapter, I don't know yet. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to comment as much as you'd like. See you in the next chapter! <3