Fanfiction concept by Elizabeth Jean, Written by Elizabeth Jean in conjunction with Sleethr.

Thanks go to Djkauf for assistance in proofing and editing.

Speech in Na’vi “Italics.”
Speech in English “English.”

I ride my steed, my bow in hand, I nock an arrow preparing to take down my prey, I begin to sing to my prey as I take aim. My song steadies my breathing, focuses my mind as it also honours both the life and the death of my prey before Ey’wa. If my aim is true, if my arrow strikes true, my prey will feed the people.

“Lu nga win si txur”              (You are fast and strong)

“Livu win si txur oe zene”        (I must be fast and strong)

“Ha ni’aw”                                 (So only)

“Pxan livu txo ni’oe ngari”            (Only if I am worthy of you)

“Tsakrr nga Na’viru yomtiying” (Will you feed the people)

“Oeya swizaw ningay tivakuk” (Let my arrow strike true)

“Oeya txe’lan livu ngay”     (Let my heart be true)

“Rerol ayoe ayngane”                  (We are singing your way)

“Terinan ayoe ayngane”               (We are walking your way)

“Ha ftxey fko kip aynga”            (So chose one among you)

“Awpot a Na’viru yomtiying”     (Who will feed the people)

“Oeya swizaw ningay tivakuk” (Let my arrow strike true)

“Oeya txe’lan livu ngay”     (Let my heart be true)

I release my arrow and watch as it effectively takes down my prey, dismounting I quickly approach the downed animal, it is a large Sturmbeest, I pray to Ey’wa and thank its spirit for the life, its death will bring to the people, then I quickly end its pain. As I prepare my kill to be brought back to the village, I contemplate the many years since the Sky people left.

Fifteen years had passed since the Taruk Makto had guided us to send the sky people home, many fell from the fire the Sky people rained down, but their spirits rested with Ey’wa now. The damage that had been done to our homes and villages was extensive, but in the time past we had rebuilt much. We had to build a new home to the west of Tarontxar closer to the sea.

We Omaticaya had lost our Hometree, the sky people who called themselves humans had destroyed it completely, we of the people had never seen such destruction, Our Hometree had been the primary home of the Omaticaya for countless generations, yet it was destroyed in the blink of an eye. Our people were in shock that the humans would so eagerly destroy our home and people.

The Taruk Makto later told us of the human’s home world, how they damaged it out of greed and ignorance. We of the Omaticaya could not comprehend such behaviour. Yes, the Clans clashed sometimes, resulting in fierce battles. The fight was always swift, but afterwards the clans would sit to resolve matters. The humans seem to live for destruction. The Taruk Makto called it war. A concept we knew of from our own battles, but not on the immense scale of the humans.

We were right to be wary of the humans, they had already killed Sylwanin, elder sister of Neytiri. Sylwanin had been hunted by the humans after she had attacked one of their enormous metal beasts that tore up the forests. Our clan leaders had cut off ties with the humans, refusing to talk with them.

We did not learn until later that the Anurai clan had been completely wiped out, it was a shock to us, and we thought we could share our world with the humans. It was not to be, they did not want to share, just destroy. The Omaticaya only survived because we ran to safety, even then many were lost including Eytukan our Olo'eyktan or clan leader as the humans would say.

Tsu'tey was to be the next clan leader bonded to Neytiri, but she had chosen Jake Sully as her bonded. After the battle with the humans Tsu’tey was dying and made Jake Sully clan leader and asked Jake to end his pain, Jake reluctantly did and honoured the Omaticaya and Ey’wa with his words. Oel ngati kameie tsmukan (I see you brother)

Of course Jake was still a Dreamwalker, but soon after the battle, Ey’wa helped his spirit move to his Na’vi body, the body he inhabited before was buried, honoured as one of the people. Jake was now our Olo'eyktan, Neytiri would one day become our Tsahá¬k but at that time Mo’at was still needed.

Norm also chose to join the Omaticaya too. Although, he was soon complaining when he realised his Na’vi body was still injured and how much it hurt. . He stopped complaining when he found himself being nursed by several young women. Several others who were Dreamwalker’s for Tarya also became Omaticaya. Those who had no Dreamwalker bodies made use of the metal huts the humans used.

Ey’wa had surprised us after the battle, Doctor Grace or Tarya as we call her was not dead as we had thought, her spirit resided with Ey’wa helping Ey’wa to understand how destructive the humans could be. Ey’wa is the balance of all living things, seeing the destruction the humans had wrought on their home world incensed Ey’wa.

Ey’wa sent our beast brothers to help us fight back against the humans, once the battle was over; Ey’wa sent Tarya’s spirit back to her Na’vi body. Truly, Tarya is blessed to have had such close contact with Ey’wa. We as a people have always been close to Ey’wa, but Tarya was actually one with Ey’wa, we will not be one with Ey’wa until the end of our days.

When Tarya was strong enough she and Max helped those humans left on Pandora to grow Na’vi bodies so they could join us. I am unsure of how they did this but it took several years before the humans could walk on Pandora as Na’vi. We had come to know these humans well and celebrated their rebirth as our brothers and sisters.

Tarya has taught us much of the humans and their world since they left to return home, we know they will return, Tarya told us of the rocks the humans want, we know it will be their greed that will bring them to try again. Since that time our people and all the clans have been preparing, we will protect our people, our homes and our world from those who seek to destroy it.

Jake, and Norm who some call Atan ´eko, taught us many things about the human’s fire sticks. They helped us make special arrows, should the humans return. These arrows will make noise and do much damage when they strike their targets. We would have shared our home with the Sky People but Jake, Norm and Tarya, think the humans would rather take than share.

I am sad for the humans, they do not realise Ey’wa provides for all our needs, why would we want things we do not need, many of us do not understand why they are like that. Tarya tells us many humans do not want to destroy us, that there are peoples of Earth who would seek to protect us, I do not understand how they could.

I’m brought from my musings as I hear a sound not heard for many years. It is the Sky people, they have returned, I see something in the distance, it seems to be falling slowly. My kill secure, I grab my bow and mount my pa'li (Direhorse) to join Drewan and the hunting party to search for what the humans have dropped. It takes nearly four hours to reach the area where we thought the object came down.

“Something came down in this direction.” Drewan, our Hunt leader, said as he scanned the forest for traces of anything amiss. His Direhorse stamped his feet nervously as if impatient to move on.

I looked around too as I sensed something, I have always been sensitive to Ey’wa, and she was telling me something. “Do you think it is the sky people returning?” I asked as I looked nervously up through the dense canopy trying to get a bearing on where the feeling is coming from.

Drewan glanced over to me; I could see a haunted look in his eyes, being the eldest of our group he had been in the battle with the Sky people. “That, I could not say Alyara, but if the Taruk Makto is right, they will be back eventually.”

I nodded my agreement, I could not imagine what he must have seen during the battle, I had heard the stories and songs our people sung of that time, I remember seeing bodies of those whose spirits had returned to Ey’wa. Tarya and the others who stayed had pretty much agreed that the Sky people would return.

Celan attracted our attention when he let out a fierce war cry and pounded his chest with his fist. “Let them come! We will be ready for them!”

I felt like laughing at his bravado, he was too young to know much of what occurred when the Sky people reigned down fire on Hometree, I wasn’t much older myself, I am barely thirty years now, Celan was barely five at that time.

Drewan looked at Celan with sadness “Don’t be so eager, Celan, the sky people are dangerous. They killed many of our people with their weapons of fire and metal.”

Celan gestured with his arm as if to wave Drewan’s concern away. “I know that Drewan, but by Ey’wa if the sky people return, we will fight them and win.”

I shook my head, Celan was young and brash, and he still had to complete his training as a warrior. I looked at him concerned about his enthusiasm. “That may be so, but remember brother, Ey’wa is balance, and the sky people are part of that balance, even as different as they are.”

Celan’s eyes narrowed with determination. “They don’t belong here!”

Celan worried me, he was so full of hate and anger, I know it is from the fact that his mother had died when the Sky people destroyed Hometree, so had many others, but hate would only lead to stupidity and death, hopefully he would learn to calm his anger before he joined Ey’wa from making a rash move.

Ateyo, another young rider from the rear pushed his mount closer to the front. “I heard a rumour that the Taruk Makto came from the sky people.” His tone sounded hopeful.

One of his buddies from the rear laughed. “That is surely just a story, Ateyo.”

I turned my steed to face Ateyo’s accuser. “No, it is true Arrain, Jake Sully was a Dreamwalker for the sky people, and Ey’wa moved his spirit to his Dreamwalker.” I had spoken to Neytiri about her bonded on many occasions and was told the full story of what had occurred.

“Well no matter, this search is pointless, Drewan.” Celan said with a glance at his leader. “I see no sign a sky person was here.”

“I agree. There is no more to see here. Let’s head back.” Drewan nodded in the direction they had arrived from, he turned his steed to lead the group back towards the village.

I was hesitant to leave, Ey’wa was telling me something was here, I wasn’t sure what but I knew it was important to check out. As we left the area I signalled Drewan that I need to speak to him, he moved his steed closer.

“You saw something?” he asked with concern.

“No, but I sensed something, I am not sure how to describe the feeling but I feel as though Ey’wa is trying to guide me.”

He looked at me with curiosity, he knew if I said I sensed something I was nearly always right, he knew I was sensitive to Ey’wa “You want us to return to look?”

I shook my head and stopped my steed “No, I will go back on foot, if I find something I will observe, only. I will return soon.”

He nodded and took the reins of my mount “Very well, be safe Alyara, may Ey’wa watch over you.”

I nodded to Drewan as I dismounted and unbonded my tswin, he and the others would take my steed back to the village with our kills.

I doubled back to where I’d felt the pull of Ey’wa and caught sight of a Na’vi wearing the clothes of the human Dreamwalker’s, quickly I climbed a nearby tree to follow her from above. She travels fast, but is so loud crashing through the forest that I could easy follow from a distance.

She stops and looks nervously around before opening and entering dense bushes near a fallen log, I hear a mechanical sound briefly. After several minutes I climb down to investigate, peering through the bushes I see a well hidden smooth metal rock, I keep my distance and decide to watch.

Climbing a nearby tree I settled down to eat some cured meat and dried fruits, later I watched as a pack of Viperwolves moved past the area of the stranger, they looked agitated and didn’t hang around; it was almost like they were repelled by something.

I’d felt something myself but was able to ignore it, it felt like a light humming in my ears. Eventually I settled down for some sleep, I expected the stranger would wake early, I knew from the clothes and movements that this was not a native of the Na’vi; four fingered hands told me that she was a Dreamwalker.

I decided I would follow her and watch what she gets up to. If the humans had returned, maybe she would lead me to what they were doing. Hopefully we could stop them before they could damage this world more.

RDA Pod three later that same night...

Sleep did not come easily for me during that first night on Pandora, several times I heard things moving about outside of my pod, I couldn’t tell if it was just wind rushing through the trees or if there were animals moving about out there. I had so much on my mind, this first day had been extremely stressful. First was the drop itself, that was one hell of a roller coaster ride, I never want to experience that again.

Then there was the feeling of having your brain sucked from your skull, god that felling was fucked up, the Colonel said it’d be ‘disorientating’ stupid asshole couldn't have picked a more lame assed description, I can honestly say the words ‘fucked up’ spring to mind as more accurate. If that wasn’t bad enough next came the damned claustrophobia.

No one said anything about being trapped in a glass jar, of course then we come to Colonel Hacknslash’s ‘disorienting’, stupid mother f’k, nothing and I mean nothing can prepare you to the sensations of being a blue three metre tall alien chick. I swear I’ll never joke about women again.

The ‘disorienting’ part was finding breasts, I’ve seen plenty of breasts in my life but never from this perspective, looking down and seeing these huge, well okay maybe not huge to others, but to someone who never had breasts before, seeing those on your chest is to put it bluntly damn f’ked up.

I swear, I thought I was going to start freaking out, that is until I remembered I was on Pandora with no support. That fortunately allowed me to put aside my body trouble long enough haul my ass from my coffin, I mean pod. I wasted no time putting on the RDA issue sports bra, top and combat pants and above all arming myself.

Viperwolves and other predators were a constant worry, while they usually hunt by night, they can be seen about during the day. I wasn’t comfortable trusting my life to a fancy noise machine, yeah I know, it’s more advanced than that, still didn’t mean I trusted it. The ‘disorienting’ hadn’t stopped, I really wish I could kick the Colonel in the nuts without being court martialled, and ask him if he felt ‘disoriented’. My body felt so wrong, the damn tail had a mind of its f’king own, and I’m not going to even think about the places it found itself.

Moving any part of my Avatar body causes innumerable strange sensations; it made moving and camouflaging the pod a voyage of discovery and pain. The MRE tasted disgusting and I’m seriously dreading six months of eating them, I’ve been seriously wondering if bugs would taste better. Finally after what seemed like weeks I began my recon, only to nearly run head long into a Na’vi hunting party.

About the only good thing in that whole cluster f’k was seeing Alyara, I’d seriously have a hard on for her, that is if I still had a dick to get hard, damn f’ked up eggheads in the RDA had to mess with my mojo. The encounter did teach me one thing though, how f‘ked up this mission was, I mean seriously how command expects a bunch of individuals to take back Hell’s gate boggles the mind.

Six months and I’m out, yeah right, I’ll be lucky to last a f’king week. My other concern is the news that Jake somehow got stuck in his Avatar body, shit just considering the implications of that scares the crap out of me. If my mind gets trapped in my Avatar body I’m not sure what I’ll do.

I eventually fell into a restless sleep after fretting over surviving the next six months. What I remember of my dreams were, to put it bluntly, disturbing.
I never seen a real Thanator, I’d seen images though and been briefed on their size and behaviour, having a nightmare about being chased by one was unnerving. Another time I found myself hunted by a pack of Viperwolves. The worst nightmare by far though, was being discovered by a Na’vi hunting party and tortured, in ways no human male should be tortured. The mere thought of that nightmare sent shivers down my spine waking me up feeling as though I wanted to hurl.

As I roused I shook my head to clear my mind of those dark nightmares, I really didn’t want to dwell on them, but suspected they might haunt me until I’m either dead, or survive long enough to ship out. Regardless of my dreams I had a mission to accomplish and time was wasting. I changed clothes then busied myself packing my rucksack with food, clothes and ammo ready for my first long distance recon,

Before heading out, I quickly ate another foul tasting MRE meal, I honestly had no idea whether I’d survive the food, let alone the wildlife, I closed up the pod, checked my weapons were all locked and loaded. I was nervous as hell, I had the feeling of being watched all morning but saw no one about, finally I shrugged, biting the bullet, I grabbed my gear and began heading away from my camp in the direction I’d scouted yesterday.

I wasn’t sure where my pod had landed but it was obvious from yesterday’s encounter that I was within riding distance of a Na’vi clan, I decided I needed to get high to be able to get a bearing on Hell’s gate, maybe I’d also be able to see where that hunting party had originated from, with luck I could steer clear of their hunting territories.

I decided one of the trees around me would do perfectly, even from the pictures and videos shown worldwide on Earth, nothing could compare to seeing the sheer gigantic proportions they reach for real. If I wasn’t seeing their size for myself I’d have never believed how big they really are, they are at least several times the size of trees on Earth if not more.

Climbing one was a lesson in endurance, it was hard at first, that was until figured out the best way to scale it and got a good rhythm going. It felt like I’d never reach the top, that was compounded by the huge physical change I’d gone through, my Avatar body was still very disconcerting, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be comfortable in it.

Then again, if what I heard the Na’vi hunters say was anything to go by, this trip down the rabbit hole could turn out to be a permanent one way trip to Na’vi womanhood, I shuddered at the thought not really able to fully comprehend the implications of what that might mean. From my understanding the Na’vi race’s reproduction cycle is similar to humans, but I’m sure we know more than the basic, no mention was made to more intimate issues we could face.

As I reached the tree top, I felt slightly unsteady from thoughts I had careening through my mind. Fortunately, the view of kilometre upon kilometre of jungle, literally took my breath away, it snapped me from my minds perilous direction. Pandora was full of life, the sheer scale of its beauty threatened to bring tears to my eyes.

I shook my head, being 50 meters up without a harness I needed to concentrate, last thing I needed was to fall or be discovered, all because I was too busy sightseeing to do my job and pay attention to my surroundings. Ignoring the beauty of my view I concentrated on looking for signs of Na’vi populated zones, the dense jungle made it impossible to see much of anything through the canopy of the trees, much less settlements.

I could see trees several times the size of the tree I was in, I know Na’vi used those as a kind of primary home, the tree’s were big enough to house whole clans. I could no indication of settlements, even though I knew they were out there. I could easily make out what I assumed were the Hallelujah Mountains, words can’t begin to express my feelings at seeing such sights.

After several minutes searching for signs, I decided looking with my eyes was fruitless, I pulled out my data pad and brought up the map, satellites had been in orbit since humans first arrived here; using the GPS signal I discovered Hell’s gate was located approximately 400km South East of my position, more importantly, a medium sized RDA outpost, was located approximately 6km to the North East, with luck I could gather some supplies there. My biggest concern though was finding myself deep in Omaticaya territory.

I decided the RDA outpost should be my first port of call, the satellite imagery on the pad gave no indication that the site was damaged in any way, it looked as though it had been left in the state it had been abandoned. I only hoped the imagery was correct, and that it’s intact, although I have food, weapons and medical supplies, they are not inexhaustible. I would also be a good idea to check if any others from my drop made it there.

I cautiously climb down, the trip down is ten times harder than going up, I’m fortunate that I don't suffer from a fear of heights. Reaching the ground I sigh in relief, I look around for a few minutes, I can still feel something watching me, and eventually I give up. Finding my bearings, I begin my long trek through the jungle. I’m constantly alert to the dangers around me, I've been feeling like I’m being watched all morning but I haven't seen any hint that anybody is around.

I can’t help but feel every movement my Avatar body makes as I walk, It’s not easy to focus on keeping my eyes and ears open to danger, when my body feels so alien to me. Worse is that it doesn't feel as alien as yesterday, I have to wonder how natural it will feel after months of residing in it, will my human body start to feel alien?

A kilometer in I freeze and crouch hearing movement up ahead, slowly I creep towards a nearby tree to get behind some cover, it’s not long before I see the source of the noise, I’m awed as I watch a herd of ten Hammerhead Titanothere’s move through the jungle past my location, I’m grateful I wasn't spotted as I had read they can be pretty aggressive if threatened.

I breathe a sigh of relief, as they continue moving away from my location, ignorant of my presence, hopefully I can find somewhere safe to bed down tonight, I really don’t rate the odds of me making my way back to the pod after dark, not with creatures like that around. Thinking about it though I’m probably in more danger from Direwolves and Thanator’s, part of the brief included the behaviour of native species, Titanothere’s while aggressive are like the bears of North America. If you hold your ground they will leave you be, if you run they will trample you to death.

Not a pleasant prospect, after I’m sure there’s no further danger I push on towards the RDA outpost, maybe I can use the Avatar quarters to bed down for the night. If fortune favours me, I’ll find the supplies I need to last longer than six months if needed.

It takes me another two hours before I can see the fences that surround the outpost, they look intact as do the buildings, In fact the gates are closed, fortunately there are ladders either side of the gates. I carefully do a full sweep of the outpost’s perimeter; I check the fences carefully for damage. The last thing I need is something getting in and killing me in my sleep, finding the outpost secure I begin my climb to relative security.

I watched the Dreamwalker all day as I followed her, she had climbed a tree to get her bearings, I stifled my laughter seeing her clumsy climbing technique, a Direhorse would have climbed the tree with more grace. I watched her taking in the sight of my world with a look of awe. I had to agree, my world while savage and untamed held untold beauty. We Omaticaya have always revered the beauty that surrounds us; I see no reason the humans shouldn't too.

The shift in the way she held herself told me she had gotten her emotions under control, her demeanour was that of a warrior hunting, I observed her using a data pad to work out her position, Tarya had used a similar item to write words, I was fascinated by Tarya’s use of such an item as we do not have written words, we use stories and songs to pass on our history.

I have to admit, after the Anurai were wiped off the face of Pandora, we were sad that their stories, their songs, were lost to all but Ey’wa. I wondered if one day we would share their fate, if our stories and songs would be lost too, it was not a pleasant thought, sadly it was one we had to acknowledge, since the humans arrived bringing conflict with them, at times it feels inevitable.

After locating whatever she needed, she climbed down, I watched as she scanned around as if looking for someone. I idly wondered if she was sensing my presence on some level, if she was then maybe she is more sensitive to Ey’wa than other human Dreamwalker’s. From the stories and songs of the time the Sky people came, only a few were sensitive to Ey’wa.

I knew she would not see me; I have been trained for many years to be invisible to my prey. The Dreamwalker gave up eventually, at which point she slowly began to travel North East, I knew there was a human settlement there that had been abandoned by the humans, it had been left alone since they’re departure. I wondered what this Dreamwalker would want there, and was determined to find out.

As I followed I became more intrigued by her, the more she walked the smoother her movements became. I remember Tarya telling us about how the Dreamwalker’s took time to get used to their Na’vi bodies, how simple everyday movements felt different in a body, at nearly twice the size of a human, it is not surprising that things would be...unusual at first. I could not begin to imagine what it would be like.

There was more to this Dreamwalker though; she moved almost like a male would, she seemed uncomfortable at times too. It was strange and yet interesting, I wish I could just ask her what is so uncomfortable, but I realise I cannot risk approaching her, if she is here to fight us I do not want provoke her into stepping up her plans.

Observing her will show me what her intentions are, as long as she has no idea I’m watching her I can make my way back to warn the clans. The fact that all the Dreamwalker’s from before, decided to become of the people, and this, was not one of those who stayed, means that the humans have definitely returned and are planning something. The questions are what, and how many more humans and Dreamwalker’s are here?

The Dreamwalker seems fascinated by the trees and plants that thrive here, she stops several times throughout the journey so she can look at them more closely. I can only pray she is not here to cause problems. The way this Dreamwalker looks at the plants makes me think that maybe she does not want to destroy them, her expression tells me she is awed by Ey’wa, were it not for the fire stick she carries I would have considered approaching her.

I remember Neytiri telling me that the human’s home world has nothing like the plant life found here, they destroyed much of it in their greed and war.
I hear several Angtsá¬k coming this way, I hide and watch the Dreamwalker for sign that she hears them, a minute later she crouches and crawls to hide. Her expression as they pass amuses me, Tarya says that there are very few creatures the size of Titanothere’s on Earth, and the Dreamwalker’s behaviour tends to lead credence to that fact.

After several minutes we move on, she seems more cautious, it is understandable Titanothere’s are quite intimidating when first seen, I sense there is more to her concern than Titanothere’s though; I suspect she is worried about other creatures of Pandora. Even as nervous as she is, part of her attention is on the plants and beauty of everything.

Eventually though we reach the abandoned settlement, I settle and watch as she scouts the surrounding area, I imagine she is concerned with Direwolves and other predators gaining access while she sleeps. I wonder if she has even considered that a Na’vi could climb the fence and slit her throat without even waking her.