Chapter Text
She pranced through the radiant forest, the bioluminescence glowing in the darkness of pre-dawn. Her longbow was slung across her body with her quiver of arrows secured tightly in her back.
She was ordained with beaded jewellery and loosely woven clothing, her songcord wrapped around her wrist.
The glowing roots of the soil shone brighter with every step she took. She stalled in the shadows of a towering tree with her eyes set on a target, a lone sturmbeest peacefully unaware of her presence. It would be feeding the whole clan tonight.
She set her target and carefully strung her bow, not making a sound. She loosed her arrow and it soared directly into the neck of the beast, hitting its target. Once the sturmbeest hit the ground she gracefully stepped out from hiding. She took out her knife, stabbing the sturmbeest in the neck, preventing an untimely and painful death.
She recited a prayer of honour, respect and gratitude to the fallen creature.
“Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan, ulte ngaru seiyi irayo”
Once the animal was dead, she clucked for her hunting squad to come to her aid, to transport and present the harvest to the Olo’eyktan.
Once they returned to the home tree, sunrise was already approaching.
A crowd had gathered, people distracted from their duties and causing ruckus. Investigating the scene before her, she scrambled her way through crowds facing no restriction.
Once she broke free of the congregation of her clan, she was stunned to see the Olo’eyktan in the opposition of an unfamiliar face.
She observed the foreign man in great detail, just how she would handle all potential threats. He wore clunky boots, and human threads. He had five fingers and seemed far too cocky for the situation he had gotten himself into.
He was a dream walker.
All impressions she had of the sky people were not positive ones. She couldn’t count the number of them she had killed, or the number of her people that they had slaughtered.
The daughter of Olo’eyktan, Neytiri, stood there with the man.
“This creature, why do you bring him here?”. The Olo’eyktan was accusatory of his daughter, ashamed that she would infiltrate the solemn accord of the home tree.
“I was going to kill him,” Neytiri pleaded. “But there was a sign from Eywa”.
This statement grasped the attention of all those listening. A sign from the great mother would not be taken lightly by those who pray to her. Neytiri, as future Tsahik, dedicated her every action to Eywa. A true worshiper of her god.
The Olo’eyktan questioned her account, reminding her of the rules around dreamwalkers in the Omatikaya clan.
“I have said.. no dream walker will come here. His alien smell fills my nose”
This earned a cheer of agreement from the crowd.
Both the Tsahik and Olo’eyktan proceeded to examine the dream walker, discussing if he is worthy of living.
The dream walker introduced himself as Jake Sully, a warrior of the Jarhead clan. This was the first warrior dream walker to ever grace the clan. This sparked the interest of the people.
Murmurings spread through the throng of people. Some demanded death, even offered themselves to fight the dreamwalker to death, others were intrigued by him, focusing on the will of Eywa and why he was chosen by her.
The Tsahik had made her final judgement. She approached Jake Sully with a blank face. She circled him, swirling his avatar tail in her fingers.
“You will learn our way, to speak and walk as we do. One of our fine warriors will be assigned to you, watching your every move.One step out of place, one wrong move and you're out.Then we will see if your insanity can be cured.”
The Tsahik looked to the Olo’eyktan for his choice in warrior.
He looked for her in the crowd and met her eye, an almost apologetic look on his face. She knew what was coming, and it took all of her might not to protest with anger.
“Sa’nari te Tskaha Teylu’ite,” he called her forward.
She stepped up with her head held high, refusing to display her mood to her people. She respected the Olo’eyktan and would serve him until her dying breath, and as an esteemed warrior she had a reputation which could not be tarnished by a silly outburst.
He knew her attitude towards the sky people, and he knew that it would make her the best fit to keep Jake Sully in line.
“I choose you, my finest warrior, to protect the people and keep peace in our clan.This is an honour and I trust you will pledge to carry it out to your best ability”
She nodded to him, at a loss for words. A sign of respect and thanks for the assignment he had given her, despite her obvious reluctance.
She turned around to face the dream walker, Jake Sully. She looked him up and down scoffing at his unnatural state. He reached his hand out to her, an introduction.
“It is an honour,-”
She turned her back to him and walked away before he could finish.