▪︎Spoken Na'vi will be in Italics unless stated otherwise.
It's been a few days since Lizzie and Jake were allowed were allowed to stay with the Omaticaya. Lizzie's managed to progress decently enough, in a short amount of time. Jake, not so much. He seem to be doing okay with learning to shoot arrows, but not so much on riding a direhorse. Lizzie helps where she can, when they aren't with the Omaticaya.
Unfortunately, due to Quaritch & Parker poking their noses into the Avatar Program (more than usual), Grace has decided to move her team to a remote lab site.
"Jake, will you watch where you're going? You almost wheeled over my foot!" Lizzie griped, as she grabbed the various papers she was gonna need.
"What the hell crawled up your ass, this morning?" Jaked asked.
"Oh I don't know, maybe it's the fact that we have to move?"
"Easy you two," Grace warned. "I know you're not happy about the move Liz, but I need you to try and keep your emotions in check. Okay?"
Lizzie bit her lip from saying something stupid, choosing to nod as a reply. The two women, along with Norm and Jake helped load things into Trudy's helicopter. After Grace and Norm's avatars were loaded and secured into the helicopter, Lizzie helped Jake from his wheelchair and into the machine. Much to her brother's chagrin.
The ride to the remote site was something else. Having only heard of the mountains, nothing could have prepared the Lizzie for what she saw.
"Narlor." She whispered, gazing at the various things that graced her line of sight. (Beautiful visually)
The shack however, not so much. While it did serve it's purpose, the sleeping situation was a bit tricky. There were only two bunk beds, and there were five people. Which meant that two people were gonna have to share.
"How soon will we get to link up?" Lizzie asked.
"Give me a few minutes, I need to boot up the link beds, then you should be good to go." Grace said, flipping some switches.
"Awesome."
Lizzie grabbed her bags, and set them on Jake's bunk for the time being. She unzipped one, and pulled out the binders that contained copies of both her and Grace's notes. She placed them on the shelves above the desk, making sure they were in the proper order. She then checked all the equipment, checking to see if they worked.
"Okay, the link beds are up an running," Grace said, poking her head through the doorway. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"
"C'mon, Grace. You know I'm a perfect little angel." Lizzie said, fluttering her eyelashes.
Grace snorted.
"Sure. Just get in."
Lizzie gave Grace a mock salute, before laying in a link bed. As the lid closed, she took a deep breath to settle any nerves she had before closing her eyes.
"You are hawngkrr." Tsu'tey stated as Lizzie found him teaching archery to a bunch of young kids. (Late)
"Tsap'alute. I was forced to move my tawtute body to a different location in the Ayram Alusìng." (My apologies, human/sky person, Floating/Hallelujah Mountains)
Tsu'tey's head tilted slightly, confusion flickering in his eyes.
"You are not with other tawtute?"
Lizzie shook her head.
"Srankehe. There only five of us now. Easier to manage." (yes and no)
Tsu'tey seem to contemplate Lizzie's words before saying something else.
"Your sänumvi today will be to tsmìm yerik." (lesson, track, hexapede)
"Will I hunt, as well?" Lizzie inquired.
"Kehe. Bring your weapon, anyway. We always must be vigilant." (No)
Tracking the wanted animal was easier said than done. Knowing what the animal looked like was one thing, tracking it was a whole issue in of itself.
"These are yerik tsmìm," Tsu'tey said, squatting down to show Lizzie what to look for. "You must use these, to find where the animal has gone." (Hexapede track(s))
"Tolel." (I understand/I understand!)
It took over an hour to find the animal. It was a pretty decently sized animal. It reminded Lizzie of an animal she saw in a book back on Earth. The legs were long and slender. The body was lean, and the head seemed similar to many of the plant eating prey animals that used to roam the Earth. Once the said animal was found, Tsu'tey quickly dispatched it with his own arrow. The two hurried over to the animal, which was struggling to get up.
Tsu'tey kneeled on the animal's neck, preventing it from getting up.
"Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan, ulte ngaru seiyi irayo," Tsu'tey uttered softly, driving his knife into the creature's chest. "Ngari hu Eywa salew tirea, tokx 'ì'awn slu Na'viyä hapxì." (I See you, Brother, and thank you. Your spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays behind to become part of the People.)
"Do you say that after every sätaron?" Lizzie inquired. (Hunt)
"Srane. It is our way of thanking the animal for its sacrifice, and nourishment to the people." (Yes.)
Lizzie offered to carry the animal back, but Tsu'tey insisted that he helped. So, they made a makeshift pole to carry the animal on. They were silent on the way back, only having to stop when Lizzie managed to get a thorn-like object stuck in her tail.
"Wiya! That's gonna hurt." Lizzie grumbled, prodding at her tail. (Damn/sound of discomfort)
Tsu'tey found it hard to fight the chuckle that rumbled through his chest.
"Sweyn ngeyä tìhangham. You wouldn't be laughing if you were in my position." Lizzie grumbled. (Keep your laughter)
Tsu'tey shook his head, and the two continued on back to Hometree. Or kelutral, as the Omaticaya say. When they reached Hometree, two members retrieved the yerik from them.
"Za'u. You must see the Tsahík." Tsu'tey said. (Come, Shamanic Matriarch)
Lizzie was tempted to day no, but knowing Mo'at like she does, that was not an option. Nor was ignoring the slight burning sensation in her tail. She followed Tsu'tey to the healing tent, where Mo'at was healing a young girl with scraped hands.
"Maybe, next time you should not be so hasty. Listen to your father, yes?" The Tsahík clicked her tongue in disapproval.
The girl nodded in acknowledgement, before leaving the tent. Lizzie felt a slight sense of odd familiarity as she locked eyes with Mo'at. Like that of a kid about to be scolded by a parent. The older woman seemed to analyze Lizzie before speaking up.
"What happened?"
"We were on our way back with fresh yerik, and my tail brushed against a 'ele'wll." (thorny paw)
Mo'at looked to Tsu'tey, who nodded in confirmation.
"Sit. I will see what I can do."
For the next few minutes, Lizzie could but to wrinkle her nose in discomfort as the thorn-like object was pulled out of her tail, and the wound was cleaned.
"You must nari si. Only a 'eveng would get their tail caught like this, hmm?" (be careful, child)
Lizzie went to rebuttal, but hissed when the salve was applied.
"Do not try to argue. I raised two daughters, and healed many like them. Even when grown, you must admit to your faults. Otherwise you will be stuck looking back, instead of forward."
The rest of the day went okay to say the least. Lizzie was taken to the weavers, in an effort to understand what was required of them, and to learn how to make her own clothing. Surprisingly, this was something that Lizzie was good at. Hers fingers, although thicker than her human fingers, easily maneuvered the threads of the material. The weavers were impressed, and started a conversation with Lizzie. They talked about anything and everything.
"You are tawtute, yes?" A young weaver asked. (Sky person)
"Tsäfwen!" An older weaver hissed.
"Lì'upe? Tutee neu omum!" The young girl stated. (What? I want (to) know)
"Peyä tam. Srane. I am tawtute. I am also uniltìranyu." (She (is) okay, dreamwalker/avatar)
"What is it like?"
"I suppose it depends on who you are with. If you have good friends, it is good. If not, it can be lonely."
Once evening meal rolled around, Jake and Lizzie regaled each other with their respective activities of the day. Which in turned got Lizzie to smile when Jake told her that he fell off the direhorse again. She couldn't stop the snort the made itself known, when Neytiri described how Jake was covered in mud both times.
"What? Were you trying to take a mud bath?" Lizzie asked, biting her lip to keep the laughter in.
"Oh hush. I'd like to see you do better." Jake quipped.
"Ngeyä tsmuke hasey ramunong." Tsu'tey stated. (Your sister (has) done/did well)
Silence briefly filled the air between the four, before Lizzie spoke.
"Irayo, Tsu'tey." She murmured. (Thank you, Tsu'tey)
Tsu'tey barely nodded in response before getting up to leave. Lizzie watched him for a moment, before turning back to Neytiri and her brother. The two were looking at her, ears pricked forward, and tails flicking in curiosity.
"Lì'upe?" (What?)
"Kekem." Neytiri said, shaking her head. (Nothing."
After the meal was over, Lizzie headed to her sleeping hammock. As she got in, a distant shriek caught her attention. She looked up to see someone flying on an ikran. She couldn't tell who it was, but couldn't help imagine what Slywanin would have looked like flying on hers.
"You okay?"
Lizzie looked up to see Jake walking towards her.
"Yeah. Just tired is all. Night Jake."
She pulls the hammock shut without another word, and closes her eyes. As she opened the link pod, she rubbed her eyes. Lizzie sat up, stretched, and walked into the next room. Norm and Trudy were passed out, and Grace was sitting at the desk going through paperwork.
"You plan on sleeping tonight?" Lizzie asked, sitting on her bed.
"Possibly. You gonna eat?"
"In the morning. Don't have the stomach for food right now."
It wasn't much longer before they heard Jake exiting his link bed. Lizzie bid Grace goodnight, before slipping under the covers. She hoped the next few days would be more exciting than what today was.