Mother Pandora has always been beautiful but dangerous all the same.
Mother has told me its because Ewya made it that way. To help to teach the people how to survive and that we may learn to cherish the forest and all she gives us. That we must be ready if THEY come back.
My name is Gaia, my father says that Gaia was one of the names they gave their nature mother on his dying planet. My grandmother said that I was a complicated baby, that I was a gift send from the great mother herself. My mother said that from the moment she saw me that she knew, knew that I was special, that I was destined to protect my family...
No pressure, am I right?
First born to Neytiri and Jake Sully or Toruk Makto, olo'eyktan to the Omaticaya clan. 3 years after me came my adoptive sister Kiri and right after her my eldest brother Neteyam. Shortly after Neteyam and Kiri came Lo'ak, my fire cracker of a little brother. He always seemed to get on my mom and dads nerves, I try my best to remind him how much we all love him, even if he might not see it. Finally, my smallest sister Tuktirey or we just call her Tuk unless my mom is angry with her.
Then there was Spider...Dad said that he was orphaned by the war that came before I was born with the sky people. Mother has never liked Spider, sometimes I can hear her whisper how he is an alien..how he will never be one of the people.
It confuses me sometimes, Father tells us how he used to be one of the sky people and how he came from the dying earth far far away from mother Pandora.
The first time he had shared with us is when I asked him about my fourth finger when I would be teased by the other Omaticaya children for calling me a freak, an alien just like Spider. I remember the look on his face that day when he took me into his lap as I weeped about the names the other kids would call me.
He raised his hand and compared it to mine, so big and so tiny as he soother my nerves.
"My Gaia, remember that this does not make you any less Na'vi than them. You are our blessing, our piece of the great mother" I can remember the gentle tone he used and how sweet it sounded.
I feel as if it has been forever since he has sounded so gentle.
I can remember the day THEY came back....
"Gaia wake up" the voice sounded small in the back of my mind as I opened my eyes. It was dark as my fathers face swam into my vision, I sat up from my bed roll and rubbed my eyes slightly. There was a new heat of the forest, I could see a glow behind my dads figure outside in the forest.
"Ma Sempul what is it?" I asked quietly, trying to find some reason as to why my father would wake me in what was the middle of the night. "We have to go my daughter" he said quickly pulling together the things I had in my small room that I had seperate from my family.
I got up quickly and rolled together my things while stuffing them into my pack my father had given me. I pulled the heavy pack onto my back and followed my father "Where is mom?!" I asked over the chaos as we jumped down onto the forest floor where the Omaticaya were all scrambling toward the mountains.
"With your grandmother and siblings up there, Cmon lets go" he said pointing to further up the hill that lead toward a path between the two mountains. Finally I looked toward where I saw the glow, in the distance I finally saw what caused it.
Massive metal ships spewing fire as they came down closer to Pandora, Fire raged the trees as animals fleed from the intense heat. I could feel the increase in temperature and the hot gusts of wind from the metal structures.
I couldn't look away from the flames as a burn in my chest grew, making me suck in a deep breath, the air starting to be filled with soot. I could hear the cry of the earth, the screams of the animals. As I watched the fire grow the burn grew stronger. "Maite what is it?" my father asked kneeling in front of me.
I held a hand to my chest and looked at him "I can feel it, I can feel it burning" I said carefully. As I tried to follow my father the burn only grew harsher, it spread through out my body, all the way down to my finger tips and toes. It felt like my skin had been set alight and now my screams would join those of Pandoras fauna and flora.
The omaticaya ran past me all shoving and running away from the impending damage. A blow to my shoulder knocked me to the ground as I gripped the ground, my fingers burying in the rich soil, dirt building under my fingernails as I closed my eyes tight. The cries of the animals made tears spring to my eyes.
My senses felt the same as the raging fires, sparks cracked up my spine and ran rapid in my veins. I buried my head between my hands as I let a scream escape my throat. The ground was cool to the touch, making the contrast to my skin only feel more intense.
"Gaia!? Whats wrong??" my father asked chaotically, placing a hand to my shoulder trying to unbury me from the gound. "It hurts!" I said raising my hand and pointing to the growing fire. My father pulled me up, wrapping my arms around his neck as he started to continue to run. "Ma Jake!" I heard the voice of my mother carry towards me and my dad.
"What happened?" she asked, placing a hand to my back as I dug my head into my fathers shoulders, holding on as tight as I could. "I..I don't know, we just need to go" he said in a worried tone, placing a hand to my head.
We didn't stop until we got to the halleujah mountains, far far away from the destruction and the sky people. While my father and the warriors set up tents and the women helped gather supplies I was sent to be with my grandmother, our Tsahik along with my younger siblings.
After my grandmother gave me healing herbs to drink she called my parents to tell them what happened.
"Her connection to Ewya. It's strong. She can feel the fire, the forest" my grandmother spoke softly as my mother stroked a hand over my arm with my head in her lap. My brothers looked to my father while Kiri sat with my mother as Tuk stayed close to Kiri.
"sa'nok what does that mean? Will she be like this forever?" my mother asked desperately, in fear for her eldest. My grandmother shook her head "it will fade, she will learn to control it. She is strong" her voice faded as I slipped into a sleep, away from the pain and the nightmares of the sky people.
Something told me that this was far from over...
That was a year ago, I'm a new girl now, a new person. A protector like my father, born to die for my family.
A.N
apologies for the short first chapter! Most of this story has been pre writed in a seperate place.
Feel free to like and comment! (its a huge motivator to hear if people like it)
Much love <3 - shiloh
word count - 1312