I hissed, carefully applying the gel Grace brought from a camp somewhere.
"That was stupidly reckless, Hettie! I mean, do you know the cost of the avatar you are using? Yes, I am grateful you saved Ca'lil but could you have done it without getting injured yourself!" Grace was ranting in her avatar form, pacing in front of me as I sat on a mushroom on one of the roots of the tree, biting my tongue to avoid groaning, the skin of my leg is purple, not blue, and definitely swollen.
Mo'at stood off to the side, watching me with interest as I tested the leg for a break, grinding my teeth as the pain stabbed through me like lightning bolts.
"Grace, please stop worrying, I didn't break anything, it's just a very extensive bruise." I said in a pained filled voice, grabbing some of the leaf bandages Mo'at brought, wrapping the leg to prevent the gel from rubbing off, also to prevent infection in the semi deep cut from the sharp edge of the Sturmbeest's hoof.
My leg felt like I dipped it in acid to be honest, but the pain of having a bullet clip your ear is definitely worse. I remember the nausea and disorientation I had for days.
Grace sighed in annoyance, "Well, do make sure you take care of it right. I know you are a Medic, Hettie, and that you have studied up on avatar forms to be able to tend to them, but you also have a streak of caring for others health so much to the point you forget your own." Grace said, pointing a finger in my face.
I looked up at Grace and rolled my eyes.
"Yes, mother." I said sarcastically, making Grace chuckle.
"good to see you are still in a good mood. Now, I need to go study samples, so don't you dare get any worse injuries while I am gone." Grace said, making me smirk. I watched Grace walked away as I shifted my leg, my expression tensing.
I really am lucky the bone didn't break, but Na'vi bones are made of some strong stuff. But to say that bruise won't bother me for a while would be an understatement. I looked up as I heard Mo'at approach, seeing her look at my cleanly wrapped leg before looking up at me.
"In other life, you healer?" Mo'at asked, studying me with her x-ray look. I looked down at my leg, my face tensing as I thought of those desolate battlefields I ran across to save lives.
"In a way. I was a Field Medic, so I could do the simple stuff on a battlefield. Clean up bullet mounds, tend to injuries, or get soldiers back up on their feet to continue to fight. I don't know illnesses or other types of care." I said, looking up.
Mo'at studied me closely, making me nervous.
"I see change in heart, you found answer to Seeing self?" Mo'at said, making my eyes widen in shock. By the Eagle's Wings, Mo'at is very good at reading people. Or more just me, I tend to forgot my eyes are always way to open and expressive, a part of myself I don't like.
"I... think so. I don't know." I said quietly, looking across the tree, seeing a few Na'vi salvaging what fruit's and baskets they could from the Stampede. Ca'lil and her parents were in a far corner between two roots, holding Ca'lil between them as the exhausted little child leaned on her mother. I fought down a blush as I noticed the parent's had their queues connected.
I have learned enough of Na'vi to know what is an intimate gesture. Then again, I forget that Na'vi are not big on privacy. It's taken me months to grow used to others touching my shoulders, my hair, and my back in passing.
I looked back at Mo'at to see her frowning at me.
"Yet you think you close to answer?" She asked, studying me. I bit my lip, looking down.
"It's a hard answer to find, but I think I am close to an answer." I said, looking up. Mo'at nodded.
"I leave you here for now, rest here, let leg heal, I return later, see if swelling gone down." Mo'at said. I nodded, leaning back against the bark of the tree, the mushroom supporting the rest of my body as I watched Mo'at walk away. I wondered where Tsu'tey was, probably among the group herding the Sturmbeest back out away from Hometree. I saw Neytiri moving about as well, helping pick up the remains of the harvest. I watched, wondering if Jake was off sleeping or something, since he clearly isn't here.
I yawned, just as exhausted as little Ca'lil as I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes, resting. I knew that, as soon as the swelling goes down and I find the strength to go to my hammock, I would have to rest my human body. The exhaustion was reaching across the link, my human body was so tired.
Two full days without nothing more than three hours of sleep, I have definitely been pushing it recently.
"Hetibay, are you okay? " I heard a young voice ask in and opened my eyes to see little Ca'lil in front of me, her parents behind her, looking at me gratefully. I looked back down at Ca'lil and smiled as best I could, picking up the girl and sitting her beside me on the mushroom, feeling her parents looking on.
"I am perfectly fine, Ca'lil, just a little scratch, it will heal up just fine." I said slowly in Na'vi, pleased that I was getting better with the syllables needed for Na'vi to understand me. I patted her head, making her giggle and me smile. "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't you find the rest of the group and we can have story time right here? Don't want to miss out on that, now do we? " I said brightly, Ca'lil grinning.
"Ya! Good idea!" Ca'lil said joyfully, hopping off the mushroom, which made it smack back up into my leg, making me tense, fighting down a pained groan as I fixated a look of happiness on my face when Ca'lil looked back at me before hopping off joyfully to find the others, her little tail swishing behind her excitedly.
Once she wasn't looked, my winced and gritted my teeth till the pain died down. Still, this pain is much preferable to bullet hitting my ear. I looked up at noticed her parents had approached, looked at each other, then at me.
"I See You, Dreamwalker, and thank you for saving our child." The female said, I smiled and nodded to them before closing my eyes, needing a bit of rest. I heard them walk away as I relaxed for a moment. Some time passed before I blinked my eyes open, hearing excited giggles and laughter signalling the arrival of the children. I smiled as some sat on the edge of the mushroom while others gathered on the floor, sitting cross legged, excited for a story.
"Hmm... I seem to remember leaving off on the story of Chieftain Haku and his stallion, the powerful and great Falrar." I said, the children nodding excitedly, making me grin.
"Long ago, before I was born, before Sky People walked on Pandora, there was a tribe surrounded by bandits from the south, out for the treasured gold said to be in Chieftain Haku's hands. But Haku had no gold, no wealth, only powerful warriors and great powerful stallion's of the sun. No, the gold he treasured was that of his wife and three sons who brightened his day..." I said, getting into the story and beginning to gesture with my hands, my voice changing into what I liked to call my storytelling voice.
I looked over as I was telling the children how the tribe was known as Children of The Sun in their native language, and spotted Tsu'tey entering, looking very grumpy and covered in dirt, scowling at everything. I guess herding Sturmbeest did not end so well for him. I looked back to the kids to keep with the story, describing the rolling hills of fruits and crops that the Children of The Sun tended to and considered their gold.
"But there was one thing that was very different about this tribe in particular. They had stallions of great might! The strongest of them all, the most powerful and greatest was always the stallion of the Chieftain. And so, came the legend of Falrar, the greatest stallion ever known..." I said, glancing in Tsu'tey's direction again to find him... looking at me. I nearly stuttered in my storytelling, seeing the most peculiar expression on Tsu'tey's face. I saw worry, seeing my leg wrapped, pride, which made me feel like I was on cloud nine, and... something else...
I couldn't exactly name it, but it made me feel funny things. I quickly looked away and back to the children, not letting them see my slip in character.
"He was a mighty stallion! A coat of pure gold, he rode like the wind and was undefeated in battle! the greatest part, was not his strength, but his heart. The stallion cared for Chieftain Haku, cared for all of the tribe and was their shield against the bandits!" I said, making the children stare wide eyed at my words, making my smile grow wider.
"And so he rode into battle with a fearless face, destroying every enemy in his path with the mighty Chieftain on his back, not a single bandit could stand against them! And so, as the story goes, they banished all bandits from the land of the Children of The Sun, restoring peace, and their tribe lives on for hundreds of years, passing down the story from each generation to the next. It is said my homeland sits in the beautiful valley the Children of The Sun once protected, and so the story means such to my people, a sign that numbers do not matter, only your strength of will." I finished the children staring in awe for a time.
"Come on, Hetibay, once more please!"
"What happened to the Children of The Sun?"
"There has to be more to the story!"
The children began to talk fast and I raised my hands, they instantly fell silent, staring and waiting for more stories, "No one knows what happened to the Children of The Sun, but many believe they never left that valley, merely evolved with time. Some believe the bloodline of my people is connected to that lost tribe. Legends can get lost over time, so not much more is known about the Children of The Sun. Now, I am sure you are all hungry so why don't you run off to dinner, or find your parents?" I said softly, yet a touch sternly. I had learned enough in TULTE growing up that children did not like when you stopped storytime.
Some sighed sadly at the end of storytime, but eventually they all began leaving. I watched them leave and sighed, pleased to give them something to take their mind off the day's events, especially little Ca'lil.
Where is Ca'lil?
"Did you name pa'li after the great and mighty Falrar?" I heard a little voice say, and looking to my right, smiling in relief to see Ca'lil just had not left the mushroom yet. I reached out a patted her head.
"I did, pa'li reminded me of Falrar, with his kind heart. I see him as a great friend, and the mighty Falrar of legend always cared for his friends." I fake whispered, like I was telling Ca'lil a secret. She grinned brightly, all of the days events long forgotten as that legend pulled her into happier thoughts. "Now, go off and find your parents, alright?" I said, Ca'lil nodded and ran off, giggling. I smiled as I watched her go. She reminded me so much of little Elisa, who loved my stories of Spirit Quest training so much she always asked for little facts after the others left.
Elisa is probably in her 20s now, a full citizen of TULTE, working to care for the books under the tutelage of the Elder of History. I miss her so much, yet Ca'lil fills that piece of homesickness to a point.
I looked over as Tsu'tey approached, looking at me with a blank face. I looked back, wondering what he was going to say.
"You horrible at dodging Sturmbeest." He said, scowling, making me smirk. Most people would be annoyed at this but I could see the pride in Tsu'tey's eyes, he just is not one for complements.
"Ya well, you look like you rolled around in dirt." I quipped back, my smirk widening as his scowl getting worse. Even if he truly insulted me right now, I wouldn't care, I am too happy with the days events. I saved a child, stopped a Sturmbeest, and was able to calm all the children with storytime, even if I felt so exhausted I felt like I could sleep a whole week.
I looked at Tsu'tey again to see the scowl fade.
"The People have decided, deed was good, you showed pure and strong heart, it is time." Tsu'tey said, making me look up with wide eyes.
He nodded to me and I felt my heart lift.
I will be accepted, as one of The People. As a member of the Omaticaya.
My heart ached with how little time I have to be one of them, something I now know I craved all along.
To belong.
Eeekk.... Ya, very deep chapter here but, as I said, deviating from Jake Sully here. Yes, Hettie will become one of The People before Jake but I planned it that way from the beginning, you will see why....
:3 I am evil, leaving a cliffhanger like this. Enjoy!