A New Life (TwinkleMoon && Draco_James)

[Draco_James]

Ethan Finley's green eyes slowly fluttered open, being greeted by a dull grey-blue glow in the tiny compartment he was in. A few beads of moisture floated around in the zero-g environment, remnants of the thawing process after being in cryostasis for the five and a half months or so. Well, it was less time, from the perspective of anyone aboard, since with the ship traveling at such a high percentage of the speed of light, time dilation meant less time passed for them than did for the rest of mankind back on Earth, or for the Na'vi on Pandora. In any case, however long he'd been out, it didn't help the immense sense of panic that started to grip him immediately, overshadowing the feelings of grogginess and a terribly upset stomach.

He'd been claustrophobic his entire life - not a pleasant problem to have on a planet packed with far more people than it could ever have hoped to properly support. Far worse a problem to have for someone on a mission to a distant world in a spaceship with limited space, and worse still for someone waking up in a coffin-size cryostasis chamber. He closed his eyes again immediately and started to force himself to take slow, deep and calming breaths. It was over a minute later when he finally felt a small sense of movement, and opened his eyes again to find that his chamber was being slid out into the far more spacious room where only a dozen or so others were being awakened. There was no telling how long exactly it would take to make contact with the Na'vi and come to some sort of agreement about bringing everyone else down to form the settlement, and it was easier to keep most of the people in stasis until then.

Things were a little different on this trip than they had been on the old RDA mining operation runs. On those trips, all but the vital flight crew had been in stasis for the entire more than six-year trip. This time, however, some of those on board had completed part of their training en-route, in four year-long rotations during the four year period in the middle of the trip where the ship was traveling at a steady speed, not speeding up to get away from Earth, or slowing down so it could enter into orbit around Pandora. Ethan had been one of those people, with most of his avatar training having happened during the last shift of people who trained in the final year of that time.

Of course, he'd been preparing for the mission for longer than that. It had been well over a decade after the RDA was forced off Pandora when this expedition had launched - and it was nearly twenty years now since any new humans had set foot on the alien world. Ethan often felt like he'd been preparing for this his entire life. He hadn't even had to learn Na'vi after being accepted to join the crew, because he'd taught himself the language in his spare time as a boy simply because it fascinated him - at the time he'd never thought he would have had the chance to use the language in any real way. He'd never been more thrilled to be proven wrong in his life. In the end, he'd been force to lie a little in order to get on the expedition. Well, not lie, exactly, but he'd hidden the fact that he was claustrophobic before the launch, only having admitted it during his on-ship training, when it was far, far too late for anyone to deny him the opportunity to participate in this.

After the initial bit of panic, things moved quickly for him and the small landing party that was being sent down to Pandora. They all got medical checkups, and then were shuffled onto the landing ship they'd be using, which would also act as their home - and would in fact serve as the basic starting point for the rest of the settlement when it was set up somewhere down the line. About six hours after he'd woken up, he and the other five members of the initial landing party were hurtling down through the dense Pandoran atmosphere, the ship a giant ball of fire leaving a trail across the dawn sky to anyone watching from the planet's surface. It was headed for one of the old RDA pit-mines, the bottom of which would be nice and flat. As good a landing place as any, and one which would at least keep them from doing more damage to the world than had already been done by humans.

The descent to the surface took a total of about fifteen minutes, and Ethan couldn't have been more glad that it was over when they finally set down. It wasn't that he didn't trust the pilot or the navigation computers, but the thought of burning up during atmospheric entry wasn't a pleasant one. Finally, after all this time, he was there - Pandora. Now he just couldn't wait to get outside. Aside from him, there was another avatar driver, two medics, a pilot who could fly both the descent ship and the civilian, unarmed version of the old Samson dual-rotor craft they had with them, and the expedition leader. It was going to be fairly cramped quarters, which just gave him more incentive to get out in his avatar to enjoy the wide open spaces that this new world had to offer.

"Uh - mister Wolfe?" Ethan asked, clearing his throat a little.

"Ethan, I've told you, please call me Will. Or William, if you really must, but we're all going to be working together too closely to be going by last names, don't you think?" the older man - the expedition leader - replied, and then glanced up from the digital tablet he was looking over to check on some of the ship's systems, "And I'm sorry, but the avatars won't be ready to go for at least another four or five hours, minimum. We've still got to lock down some ship's systems and then go through the whole decanting process. The wait really can't be helped. The windows should be uncovered in a few minutes, though, once the outer hull cools a little more - I know it's not as good as being out there, but it's a start."

"Right. Um... thanks..." Ethan replied with a little nod, knowing there was nothing he could do, so he headed off to wait for the window coverings to retract. Maybe being able to see out would be enough to alleviate his claustrophobia a bit. Thankfully, his mind was also occupied a little by thoughts about the Na'vi. He wondered how many might have seen the ship come in to land, and what they might think about it. He was certain they'd send someone to check it out, and everyone just had to hope that they could make peaceful contact with the Na'vi when that happened.

[TwinkleMoon]

Many cycles had passed since the sorrowful events that took place when the first humans had came to Pandora. Since then the Na'avi had rebuilt and started to live the way they always did before the arrival of those who destroyed so much of Eywa. Everything went well and the world went back to peace. Until the day fire rained from the sky...it was as if a star itself descended on the world, causing great fear and anxiety among those close enough to witness it. Among those people was a clan of Na'avi known as Vatlo'ek , which meant something along the lines of ''Eyes of the Lake''. This very clan was situated far from the ancient HomeTree of the Omaticaya. Accross the jungle and hills, there was a large lake. Its waters were the only one which allowed a very unique sort of tree to grow from within. The Vatlo'ek had built their own village amongst its branches and over the time it became a really unique view, especially at night, where the waters glew from all the plants and fish in it.

It had not been long before the Clan had sent a few of their best hunters to track down and see what happened at the point where the star fell. Ever since they had left, the Na'avi had gathered in the center of the village and awaited for the men to come back and give news of what happened. Silence fell upon everyone as they walked, almost running, back to the village and went directly to the
Elder.

''Olo'eyktan... It is no star which feel in the forest. It looked like a strange rock... Very alike to what the Humans used to destroy the Home Tree of the Omaticaya...''

The news struck even more fear into their hearts, this time mixed with hateful thoughts towards the old enemy. The village voted what to do about the matter. Most wanted to go find them and get rid of them before they could hurt Eywa again. They thought that the humans were back for vengeance and yet more destruction. The other half were scared to take action. They hoped for a more passive approach, as Eywa always thought them. In the end the Elder had to ask silence, and once it was done he spoke;

''We do not know of these humans. Even if they brought havoc to Eywa, we also know not all of the humans were alike. It could be a mistake to strike without at least one try at talking to them. Hmm...Maybe they would be different?''

After these wise words, even those who did not completely agreed fully accepted the Chieftain's choice. It was after all the best of choice. Their judgement were clouded mostly by events of the past. Sitting beside the Chieftain and his wife, the Tsa'hik, was a young Na'avi woman. She was not their true daughter, but her parents had both died long ago. She was then adopted by the Chieftain himself, as her father and him were long time friends. Since she was not their real child, however, she had so far not been promised to have the role of Tsa'hik when her mother would join Eywa. Her name was Nipey.

It did not take long for the village to form up a group to go meet these humans right away. Among them, mostly warriors but also a few more passive Na'avi to show they did not want conflict. Nipey was asked to remain to the village by her father, but she could not resist the urge to follow the group and so the moment she could she quickly climbed down a tree and hid from her father's view until she could finally meet up with the group where he would not see her. She was a grown up Na'avi, but still had this small part of a child inside of her. She would go hunt, and was not bad at it but she still was far from being the best of hunters. Nipey was also quite rebellious when it came to her father's demands, but nothing that would endanger her or anyone's life. This little escape was by far the most daring action she did.

Time passed by and the group headed into the jungle towards the site of an old mine left her by the first humans. There stood as reported the strangest of things. A sort of unnatural rock of a weird grayish color, almost like a rock but not exactly. The warriors of the group exposed themselves first, bows ready, and approached the strange thing in an half circle formation protecting the non-warriors behind them. One would notice that every Na'avi was still armed. If it was no bow or spear it was a long and deadly looking knife hanging n one or the other piece of clothing they had. Once close enough, one of the warrior, the leader, cried out;

''Ala'hak Otah Humans ko Te'thmela he! Ko Te'thmela ethma Eywa fetu eki wa he.'' which roughly translated to, if anyone understood; ''Show yourself Humans, we come in peace! We come in peace, like Eywa want us to.''

Nipey was also holding to her bow, but it was not sprung or anything. She had a few arrows in the quiver hanging lazily by her side. She was tall, taller than any human by at least a few heads, but she was one of the smallest one in this group and seemed less aggressive than any. Only curiosity brought her here this day. Curiosity to see what were these Humans. The ones responsible for her parent's death.

[Draco_James]

For Ethan, the waiting was absolutely terrible. Out the windows he could see the slowly recovering bowl-shaped mine, green having partially taken over the area again, though there were no large plants or trees within it still. It made him think of a scar - technically healed, but still obviously giving away the fact that something had happened on this spot that never really should have. At least there were few such mines in the immediate area, since they'd chosen the one furthest from the terrible trespasses made against the Omatacaya clan - the furthest one from the Tree of Souls. Another attempt to show that they weren't going to behave as the humans that had come before them had.

Even being able to see outside, though, he had to make at least a bit of a conscious effort to keep calm. After about an hour, he'd taken off his watch and tucked it away out of sight in hopes that the time might seem to pass more quickly if he couldn't check it. It did, but not by much, and the next five and a half hours passed at an agonizingly slow pace. Then, something caught his eye that nearly made his heart stop at first. A group of Na'vi emerged from the trees at the edge of the mine site, and Ethan's jaw actually fell open a little. There they were - actual Na'vi. Members of an actual alien race. He watched in awe a little longer as they approached, and then noticed that every single one of them was armed. Not unexpected, but not exactly encouraging, either. Getting up from his seat, Ethan bolted toward the command area of the ship.

"Mr. Wolfe-- ah, Will!"

"I know, Ethan. We have them on the external cameras, too. One of them said something - your Na'vi is better than mine, so I'll let you judge for yourself," the older man replied, cuing up a replay of the audio they'd recorded moments before.

"Ala'hak Otah Humans ko Te'thmela he! Ko Te'thmela ethma Eywa fetu eki wa he."

"Humans, reveal yourselves. We are here in peace. We are here in peace, as Eywa wishes of us," Ethan said after a brief moment's thought, "More or less, anyway. There's always some degree of interpretation since the language is so different, of course, but..." He stopped himself, realizing that he really didn't need to be explaining that part. "Are the, uh..."

"I'm afraid not. Your avatar won't be ready for about an hour, and they haven't even gotten started on Anya's yet. Look, I understand if you don't want to go out there. Even if they are offering peace, they don't exactly look friendly at the moment..."

"No! I... I'll go. It's why I'm here, right? I was just expecting to be in my avatar when I met them the first time..." Ethan replied quickly, trying to sound confident, but he was clearly nervous about this.

"Alright. Normally, I wouldn't send anyone out there right now, but we don't want the Na'vi to take our not going out as an insult or a declaration that we don't want peace like they do. You better get going, then," Will replied. Ethan stood there, nodding a little. "Sooner rather than later, Ethan."

"Oh! Right!" Ethan said, snapping out of it, and he hurried to the airlock. He put on a jacket that would help sheild him from the sun a bit, and then put a communications transciever in his ear so he could communicate with the ship if he had to. Next, he put on an exopack so that he could breathe, and pressed his palm to the reader by the door, which caused it to hiss a little as the room's air was traded with Pandoran atmosphere, and then it slid open. Ethan stepped out of the ship, onto a ramp that had folded down just after they'd landed, he had to squint a bit against the brightness of the sun, but made his way toward the group of Na'vi. He made sure to walk slowly and keep his hands down, but a little away from his sides so they could see he wasn't holding any weapons. Perhaps this was for the best anyway. There had always been the chance that if he showed up in his avatar, the Na'vi might think the humans were trying to trick them by looking like them this time, rather than seeing it as an attempt to make it easier to communicate.

He walked toward the leader of the group of Na'vi - or at least he had to assume the man that had spoken was leading this group. He looked around at all them, their eyes on him, and tried to remain calm. He made sure to keep his hands down at his sides, but out from his body just a big, to show that his hands were empty, free of any weapons. They seemed to get taller with every step closer he took, and it wasn't long before he realized that the arrows many of them were carrying with their bows were at least as long as he was tall. He was completely at their mercy at this point, there was no doubt about that. He'd seen pictures of Na'vi before - even a hologram or two, actually, but being here in person, in every sense of the word, was completely different. The smallest Na'vi he could spot amongst them, one of the women, would already tower over him a good bit, and the leader was considerably larger and stronger looking than she was.

"Kaltxi, Na'vi le Eywa. Ohe lu le Humans. Ohe omum 'awlie, lapo humans kamxu Na'vi ulte Eywa nitxan, sla awnga pawm sat aynga ra'a ralpeng ayoeng fa ayfo aykem. Awnga kop neyw fpom si atx'ale aynga ting awnga skx'om wintxu awnga lu keteng fo," Ethan said when he approached close enough to speak with the Na'vi. He spoke loudly and clearly, having to really work at getting it to project his voice well, since he was trying to reach such a large group, and he was so small in comparison. After he was done, he lowered his head in something of a show of respect. These words flowed particularly easily for him, since he and several other members of the crew had worked out what to say when they first encountered the Na'vi long ago.

The little speech was the translation they had come up with for, "Greetings, people of Eywa. I am of the humans. I know that in the past, others of our people have done you and Eywa great harm, but we ask that you not judge us by their actions. We too wish for peace, and request that we be given the chance to prove to you that we are different from them."

Now that he'd gotten it all out, there was nothing to do but wait and see what their reaction might be.

[TwinkleMoon]

There was a strange and loud noise as something on the strange human hiding place started to move. A noise of wind was heard and a sort of door began moving until the group of Na'avi saw a single human get out from it. Immediately all of those with armed bows tightened their grip and adjusted their aim at the possible prey. All at the same exact time. Their action was more out of reflex then anything else, but they knew humans were deceivers. This one was moving slowly and seemed unarmed, defenseless. No use could be found in menacing him and so, before he even spoke up, the leader lowered his weapon and motioned to the others to do the same. As they lowered their guards they took a more relaxed pose where their imposing height really showed. The leader almost was two adult male humans tall. While they knew humans spoke their language, some of them still were surprised to hear this small one speak it so fluently. There was errors, but overall he could speak very well.

Nipey approached a bit more to see him more closely, but she remained behind the warriors at all time. He was so small, even in comparison to herself who was quite small among her people. Their skin was also pale like she had been told, but not much of it showed. They were wearing a lot of clothing, some of which seemed useless to her, not practical at all. She was so fixed on the human that she startled a bit when the leader of their group, Koa'yx he was called, answered the little Human. She took a few step back.

''I am warrior Koa'yx.'' he said proudly. ''You look no different then those who came before you. They also came with promises of peace, but your kind proved to be deceivers. I would have pierced your heart already if we would have decided to judge you the same as your predecessors. The chieftain asked otherwise, and we came to talk.''

One other Na'avi approached them, a woman bearing no weapon and from her clothing you could see she was a bit more peaceful of nature.
''We asked your kind to leave, why did you come back? You brought great harm here, other clans lost more than the Vatlo'ek did. They might not be as peaceful as we if they know of your return. Tell us the reason of this. Did you come to destroy more of Eywa? Why are you here.''

Although less aggressive in her way of speaking, it was obvious that none of them trusted the humans. All seemed anxious or worried, except for Nipey, who seemed more curious than anything else. The next answer of the human would affect in what terms they would meet the next time. Humans had killed her parents, and she was angry at that fact, angry at them. However she did not remember much of her parent, apart that they were great hunters. One day her mother told her before going on a hunt, as she was a child; ''Do not be hateful towards the creatures of this world, they are the same as us. Never seek revenge on the wild animals if we are to die one day, for they are Eywa's child and earns our respect.'' This was a common teaching among the hunters of the Na'avi people, yet Nipey could not help but think. Were humans the same as a wild beast? What should she feel towards them? She eagerly awaited his answer to their question.

[Draco_James]

As Ethan waited he noticed the woman he'd picked out before as probably the smallest Na'vi here move a little closer, but she seemed to back off again when Koa'yx introduced himself. Ethan swallowed hard, but gave a little nod of understanding at the Na'vi's statement. It wasn't surprising, exactly, to hear that he'd already have been dead if not for their chieftain's decision. Still, it was a little jarring to hear someone so matter-of-factly mention the prospect of putting an arrow through his heart. That just wasn't the sort of thing Ethan was used to by any stretch.

His eyes shifted to the woman who came forward to speak next, and he wasn't surprised to hear what her question was. "I am Ethan. I know you have little or no reason to trust what I say is true, but I and those with me do intend to prove to you that we will not deceive you. Those who came before, came to remove something from your world to bring back to our world. That is why they came, and it was the cause of the destruction. We do not wish to take anything from you. Our world is dying - and it is our fault, but a few of us who have realized that our people are on the wrong path have come here, to ask for your help, and the help of Eywa. Each one of us is ashamed of what our predecessors did here," Ethan said, having to pause occasionally to form the next few words in his mind before speaking. His Na'vi was good, but he still wasn't as fluent as he was in English.

"We have come to ask for the chance to be allowed to live here. To live much as you do. We have brought no weapons to make war, no machines to take from Eywa what she will not willingly provide. There are only six of us here now, and more wait in our ship in the sky, but no more will come from down from it without the blessing of the Na'vi and the blessing of Eywa," he finished, and once again fell silent. He hoped that they would believe him, or at least be willing to give him and the others time to show that he meant what he was saying.

If they refused, then there really wouldn't be anything that the expedition could do about it. All of those people on the ship would have come all this way for nothing, but it was a risk that each and every one of them had understood and accepted before signing on for this trip. It was a risk that all of them thought was well worth it, because the other option was remaining on an overcrowded, dying Earth, and living out lives that none of them took the least bit of satisfaction from.

[TwinkleMoon]

All of the group remained silent to let a chance to the man to explain himself and the reason of the humans coming back to Pandora. The more he went on with the explanations, the more the Na'avis seemed to be surprised at his answer. Some of them whispered too low for him to hear. All of them though, even those who were most probably hunters or Warriors, seemed to relax a lot more upon hearing they brought no weapons and that only 6 of them were here right now. The female to which he spoke remained silent for a moment, thinking about all of what they all just heard. She looked to Kao'yx and although he seemed to hesitate at first, he nodded to her and gave a sign to the other hunters before starting to walk away.

''We are...ready to believe you, for now. But we do not want others to come down...the thought of humans living with Eywa is troubling, and not every Na'avi will accept it. No. You will need proof of what you say before that. Demonstrated by actions. You will come to the Vatlo'ek village, you and your companions. The Tsa'hik will see if you are to be trusted. Such is the will of the Na'avi.''

For the very first time, Nipey actually snapped out of her silence and spoke to the elder directly as she advanced towards them. The rest fo the Na'avi group were not far away, actually waiting for the rest to follow them. Kao'yx in particular seemed anxious about what was currently happening.
''I will guide them to Vatlo'ek, Etsuya. I can'' The elder one, apparently named Etsuya, seemed to be shocked. She took the young Na'avi a bit further to speak to her in a more private way. Even if the man had tried to listen, the whispers and the fact that they were actually talking very fast would most probably make him not understand enough to follow. Etsuya looked back to the human one last time before nodding to Nipey and go to join the others. All of the Na'avi disappeared one after the others into the jungle. The last to go was the leader of the Warriors, who gave Ethan one last seriously menacing look before going.. Nipey did not notice this last detail as she was now standing before the small human.

After having seen the others and talked to Etsuya, Ethan could probably tell Nipey was quite young. Her body was muscled, more than any regular Human, and yet also looked elegant and graceful, not without remembering the look of a feline. Her tail was wagging in curiosity behind her as Nipey made two steps forward, crouching down a bit for closer inspection.

She was still holding her bow.

''Those from the sky...you do not look so menacing.'' She stood back up from all her height and looked back at the forest and towards the sky. ''It will be night soon. Get ready. Hurry.'' She looked back to Ethan who was actually not moving yet and waved him in a hushed way towards the ship.

''Hurry! You do not want to be in the forest at night. I will guide you, but not protect...Get ready, choose your companions. I will be waiting by the forest.'' on these last words, Nipey gracefully hurried towards where she had pointed, and also where the others disappeared to. Once out of sight, she actually climbed up a tree where they would not see her but from where she could see their strange flying construction. She would remain hidden until they came here, until it was safe. Could they trust humans?

[Draco_James]

Ethan watched closely as the woman shared a silent look with Kao'yx, apparently giving her approval, because a moment later the man spoke up. Ethan let out a small sigh of relief at learning that they were being given a chance. He nodded his understanding when the warrior said that they would have to prove themselves by their actions. That he was being asked to accompany them to their village already surprised him - but also thrilled him.

"If it is the will of the Na'vi, then we will do as you ask," he agreed, and watched as the younger woman he'd noticed before moved forward to speak with the older one. He heard her offer to guide them, but all that was said beyond that was too quiet for him to pick out, and it was obviously intended as a private conversation, so he didn't really try to listen in. He waited for them to be done, and then watched as most of the Na'vi left. The final glance from Kao'yx sent a chill down his spine, but he was soon distracted by the younger woman advancing a few steps toward him.

He froze as she crouched down, except to raise his head and meet her eyes. Even with everything else going through his mind, he couldn't help but notice, on some level, that she was quite beautiful. Sure, there were the differences between Na'vi and humans, but their outward appearances were similar enough that he doubted there would be many human men who wouldn't agree with him on this point. He also had opportunity to find that he'd been right before. Even with him standing about five feet six inches tall, he had to crane his neck back just to look at her.

"I'm glad to hear it," he replied quietly when she noted that he didn't look menacing. That was their intention here, after all - to contrast with whatever established views of humans that the Na'vi would have left from before. Reaching up, he ran a hand through his somewhat messy dark brown hair which very nearly fell down in front of his eyes, and nodded a bit again when she told him to hurry. Again, though, he found himself sort of stuck to the spot, reeling a bit from all that was happening.

When she urged him to hurry once more, he nodded again, and turned to rush back to the ship. On the way there, he spoke into his communicator to inform William of what all had happened in case he hadn't heard everything over the ship's external mics on the camera system.

"Well, your avatar is ready to go now, which is good, because if we head out now we'll have to be out there all night, so we'll need extra supplies. You can carry those. As for who to bring with you - I'll come, and Anya should too, since she'll hopefully be working with the Na'vi more closely as well," the man told Ethan as he reached the ship and went back in through the airlock, "Head straight to the link room - we'll get the supplies ready and meet you outside the airlock."

"Right," Ethan replied simply, taking off his exopack and heading for the link room to link into his avatar. He got into one of the units while one of the medics got it ready, and then he closed his eyes, relaxing his mind. The only thing that let him relax enough inside the coffin-like link unit was the knowledge that he'd be waking up inside a much more comfortable space in his avatar body. A few moments later, the link initiated, and he opened his eyes to the sight of bright lights on the ceiling in the room where the avatar had been decanted. There was a bit of disorientation, but he had enough link experience that he could keep it more or less under control.

Standing, he quickly grabbed a set of clothes from the nearby shelf and put them on instead of the simple Na'vi-sized hospital gown he was wearing. The clothes were very much like a simple t-shirt and shorts, which would easily set him apart as an outsider, but that was fine. They didn't want to come across like they were trying to deceive the Na'vi, so his clothes setting him apart at least for now was a good way of making that distinction. He did wish that he'd been able to mention to them that he had a 'dreamwalker' body that he'd be using to make communicating easier, but he hadn't had much of a chance to say anything after they'd asked for him and his companions to come to the village.

Avatar technology had been improving ever since the program had started. The earliest ones had looked more like oversized, blue humans than actual Na'vi, since their facial features were more human, but as the process was perfected, they were able to dial back the human attributes. His and Anya's avatars had been created with the most recent process, and so he looked very much like a Na'vi, though his features were still recognizable. The biggest change between this and the last avatars sent to Pandora was that they actually had the correct number of digits for a Na'vi - four fingers to a hand including the thumb - rather than the human-like five that the previous generation had. In fact, the only things that really outwardly set his avatar apart from an actual Na'vi was that his neural queue emerged from the back of his head closer down to the base of his skull than it should have, because of the limitations of having to mimic the human nervous system, in which nerves leading from the brain mostly went down through the spine.

He slipped one of the throat-mic necklaces around his neck, and clipped on an earpiece so he could communicate with the rest of the group out in the forest in case they somehow got separated. Going to the door, he flipped the latch and pushed it open so that he could step outside. A wave of scents rushed in, contrasting sharply with the sterile cleanliness of the ship's filtered air, and it was magnificent. The smell of natural, truly fresh air. But he couldn't let that distract him.

He moved around the other doorway, where William and Anya were waiting. Each had a pack of supplies on their backs, and there was another large pack for him, containing extra filters for their exopacks, some reserve oxygen just in case, and some food. He reached down, slinging the pack onto his back, and tried not to smile too much at how small William and Anya looked to him now. His avatar was the size of a young Na'vi man - and actually, now that he thought about it, he figured he'd probably be a bit taller than the woman who was going to be guiding them.

"We'd better get going. They might be agreeing to hear us out, but I get the feeling that not all of them even agree that they should be doing that. Don't want to go trying their patience..." Ethan said, in English, as he started toward the edge of the jungle where the woman had gone, having to slow himself down to let the other two keep up with his strides, which were enormous in comparison to theirs.

When they reached the spot, the woman was nowhere to be seen, and Ethan frowned slightly. "We... we're ready to go. It's Ethan, again. This is my dreamwalker body. I apologize if it's strange to see me like this now - my people can't breathe the air here without help - it's why we wear these things on our faces, so it's normally hard for use to spend a long time away from our home," he explained, speaking into the trees, and gestured at the masks that William and Anya were wearing, then the ship, as he spoke about them, "It's our hope that my being in this body will help us communicate more easily, now and in the future."

[TwinkleMoon]

Nipey was hiding in the branches of a tree for a while now, as the humans took some more time than anticipated. She had been surprised at how the one they spoke to actually behaved. He was no warrior, that was certain. However there was no telling what his companions were like and this was precisely why she hid awaiting their return. Nipey was unsure why she had been willing to be their guide. Most probably due to her curiosity mixed to the fact that she herself wanted to keep an eye on them. Nipey was not the best of hunters and possessed no other special talent like singing or instruments. Even after the lost of her parents, like any other Na'avi would have, she lived on listening to the teachings of the people and of Eywa, but even through doing her best she could not become as good as her parents were. The Tsa'hik, her adopted mother, told her one day that she missed something inside. That even if she refused to openly hate, something clouded her heart. Maybe this was the reason she wanted to remain here so much? Maybe. To test her heart.

She was brought back from her thoughts when the door of the strange conception opened up and she saw two of them get out, a man and a woman, but also something that shocked her. A Na'avi was with them, but strangely clothed and somehow looking different. She had heard from the chieftain, ''Dreamwalkers'', Na'avi with a fake soul. They were not connected to Eywa, they were not from here. She remained crouched and hidden until they reached the spot and called out for her. At the very moment Ethan said the very last word of his sentence, Nipey gracefully jumped and landed in front of them all. She carefully approached the Na'avi, just like an animal would approach an unknown object, and moved around him giving strange looks and inspecting every part of his body, completely ignoring both humans. She finished her inspection by looking right into his eyes.
From the way he spoke and from his gaze she could tell...he was the one from earlier, in disguise. Another lie. He was taller than her now, which felt very awkward once she realized it was the same being...

Nipey only gave a quick glance at the two humans who would accompany them and she turned around, putting the bow on her back passing the string around her chest, she began walking on what was supposed to be a trail. Taking for granted that they would follow her, she moved at a Na'avi regular pace in the dense jungle, without taking in consideration that for a small human it might be hard to follow. She realized this only after she looked back and saw them doing best they could to keep up. The Dreamwalker was doing best than his friends, but he was different. Different from her people. It was intriguing, yet also troubling to see this.

''Hurry.''

This was the only word she said before going again. Ethan might notice she walked fast enough to be ahead, but a bit, even if almost nothing, slower.

[Draco_James]

Ethan was startled when the Na'vi woman dropped down right in front of him, and he took a rather unsteady step back. He caught his balance, though, and stood there, waiting for her to say something. Instead, she seemed intent to give him a good look over - he supposed that it must be as strange to someone else as it was to him, for him to suddenly be in a different body. Let alone the fact that the sorts of technologies used to create a Na'vi like body would be completely incomprehensible to the Na'vi. He stayed still, trying not to see too uncomfortable with how she was inspecting him, but that was a little hard to do. He forced himself not to look away or let his gaze waver at all when, at the end, she stared right into his eyes. His mind was racing, wondering what she was thinking, but there was really no way to tell.

She turned without a word, and Ethan and his two companions took this to mean they should follow. Ethan himself already was trying hard just to keep up with her, since he wasn't used to navigating a jungle environment, but he had to occasionally stop and help William and Anya past obstacles. They were starting to slowly fall back behind her, but at least she was still in sight, so they chose not to say anything for the moment. All three of them were thankful when she turned around to look at them, hoping that she'd realize they couldn't quite match her pace. William and Anya were probably only keeping up because they still had the muscle mass of humans who'd lived on Earth most of their lives, and the weaker gravity here meant they could move more easily than they otherwise could have.

"We will try," he assured her with a nod when she told them to hurry. Ethan didn't even realize at first that she had slowed down, the change in her pace was so slight, but after a while it occurred to him that she must have, because they started being able to keep pace with her, if only just. As they moved on, he wished he had a little more time to really look around. In the light of the day which was beginning to fade, the jungle looked absolutely beautiful. On Earth, you practically had to visit places that had plants as attractions just to see living greenery these days, but here it was everywhere. Trees that stretched upward so high he couldn't tell where the tops really were, little plants all around with leaves of various colours, and the ground was covered with something like moss everywhere.

Between stealing glances at the scenery, he also couldn't help but watch the woman they were following. She moved through the jungle with grace, seemingly not having to think twice about a single move she made. It was a beautiful sight to behold on it's own, and he envied her for it. He was well aware that his movements at the moment were downright clumsy by comparison as he did his best not to trip over roots and plants. He also wondered how much further this village was - not because he was tired to traveling, but rather because the night was coming, and he was aware that the Pandoran jungles were supposedly very dangerous at night.

[TwinkleMoon]

The 'forced' walk kept up for a few more minutes. They had to reach the village as fast as possible before night fell upon them. Nipey knew this but they were slower than expected. At some point during the trip, their guide went slightly off road and made them sign to follow her through the wall of bush and plants where, behind it, was a small hidden sort of pond. Nipey took some water from it and filled what would look like a sort of container and also drank from it directly. She sat on a rock a bit secluded from them and waited, still in her guard, leaving them time to drink and rest if need be. As muchas she tried to look uncaring and what not, Nipey could not help but look back at their group from time to time. She'd examine their clothes, their equipment and such. Her ears would even raise a little bit when she'd hear them say something in their native language, which sounded quite weird to her. A few minutes of tranquility passed by before she stood back up, meaning it was time to go.

This time she walked closer to them. They walked on the trails used by animals aswell as her people. Strange footsteps could be seen of animals with apparently three pair of legs, small and quite large also. They passed across streams and even across fallen logs used to cross rivers and even deep gaps. Pandora's landscape was unlike anything on earth. Large bug-like creatures flew around them, strange glowing creatures. Suddenly, after a while that they had got back on a trail, Nipey abruptly stopped in her trail and motioned them to do the same. She grabbed the bone knife attatched to her tight and stealthly pushed aside the few leaves of a plant blocking their path. Behind it were strange dog like creatures feasting on what was known to Humans as a Direhorse, if they had learned of Pandora fauna databanks before coming here. The Wolf like creatures were Viperwolves, common predators. These were the humans names, of course. Nipey, despite holding the blade, did not seem like she wanted to disturb them one bit, more out of respect than fear. She crept back towards the group and pointed in another direction, off tracks.

The rest of the trip was hard and long, but, somehow, they reached a point where in the distance, under the twilight, they saw a big lake with majestic trees coming from under its water. Atop the trees and throughout the branches were all sorts of Na'avi huts, houses and constructions allowing them to climb, walk and move through the village. All of the lights were from plants either natural or placed in a certain way so that no Na'avi needed torches or fires to see in the dark night of Pandora. As a whole the view was magical. Kipey however did not stop to allow them time to fully observe. The small group entered the village, a full of Na'vis were waiting for them. She guided them through the village until they reached what looked like the center, a traditional place to held this kind of meetings. When finally she stopped, the clan chieftain, Olo'eyktan, and the shaman, Tsa'hik, were both standing directly in front of them. As their daughter, even though she was not the tribe's true Princess, Nipey walked to them and stood beside the couple. A great silence fell on the village now. Nipey whispered something to her father's ear so that no one would clearly hear.

The very first to break it was Nipey's father. The chieftain was an old Na'vi, respected by all not only for his role but also his wisdom.

''Greetings, people from the skies. Drekutanh is my name. We are Vatlo'ek and we welcome you in our home. If what you say is the truth...Nipey tell me you came in peace. Others also said that, and all Na'vi knows what happened to the Omaticaya. What can prove your words?'' All of what was said was actually done on a neutral tone, nor aggressive nor accusing. The Tsa'hik also spoke up in turn.

''Dreamwalker. You walk in our Village as a liar. Some of our people do not wish to see you here. Last time your kind was seen...was on a battlefield.'' She was referring to the battle that had been fought between Humans and Na'vi, one that should never has occurred. It was true that not many of the Na'vi people had seen humans outside of their Avatars apart from when the tragic event happened.

''Bad. Very bad memories we keep. Those who fought, those who saw. You say you are not the same. Hmmm...only time can tell, only Eywa can decide. Tell us. Tell the Vatlo'ek the reason of your so feared return.''