A New Life (TwinkleMoon && Draco_James)

[Draco_James]

It struck Ethan that Nipeì seemed perhaps a little more relaxed than she had in the past, which he was glad for. He didn't want her or any of the Na'vi to feel they had to be on edge, even if he could understand why they might be. Still, she didn't speak up right away about why she was here - he had to assume there was something she wanted to say, or ask, given that she'd shown up. He didn't push, either, instead just waiting. His ears lowered a little, his tail swishing back and forth slowly in this body's equivalent of a blush as she studied him again. He couldn't help but feel a bit self conscious when she did that, and he wondered what she saw in him that caused so much interest. Would the similarities to her people be more interesting, or would it be what set him apart - the clothing, the lack of any beaded necklaces or armbands, the fact that he didn't carry the customary weapons of a Na'vi.

When she moved to the only nearby grassy area, he followed and sat facing her, meeting her eyes. That was something he usually found it a bit difficult to do - make real eye contact that lasted more than a second or two with anyone. The training he'd gone through with the others and the time spent doing the training in close quarters en-route to Pandora had helped him a lot, but before this program he'd always been a little bit socially inept. Even with how much he'd changed since joining the mission, just being here felt to him like it had changed him even further. Maybe it was that while he was outside in his avatar body, it was really the only place where he'd ever felt like he wasn't too confined. Even out on the streets of Earth his claustrophobia had caused problems, since those streets were constantly crowded - practically overflowing with people.

He listened what she had to say, and his eyes widened noticeably. This he had definitely not been expecting. He had figured that the Na'vi would observe them, make sure that they didn't take anything from the land without permission, do it no damage... things like that. The possibility that he might be offered a chance to learn the ways of the Na'vi with one of them as his teacher hadn't even crossed his mind as a serious possibility, at least not for years. He took a short while to process what she was offering him, and then a while more to consider that it seemed he would play an even greater role in whether or not the group would be allowed to settle here. He took a deep breath when she asked for his answer. It made him nervous, but there really was only one answer he could give, and fortunately it was very much the one he wanted to give.

"I am moved by your offer, Nipeì. I... will admit that while I might have hoped for an opportunity to learn your ways - to learn them properly, from one of your people - I had not truly expected to be given it," he told her, lowering his head in a thankful and respectful nod, "I feel honored to have been asked, and I gladly accept. I will do my best to learn all that you have to teach me."

[TwinkleMoon]

Silence reigned supreme for what seemed like an eternity after Nipeì had made the offer to Ethan. The Na'vi woman had been awaiting a yes or a no as answer, but even her realized that such an offer was to be thought over as it probably had much meaning to him, and to his people, if what they told her people the first day they came to the village was true. The silence lasted and Nipeì even wondered if he would end up declining. Maybe they did wanted to live here, but they wanted to do so by their own ways and only seek the Na'vi for their acceptance? If such was the case, it would not work out. The ways of the Sky People were too aggressive. The clearing in which they were stood witness to the fact.

Just as her mind was imagining worst scenarios, Ethan voice brought Nipeì back from her thoughts. She was happy enough about his answer, it meant he at least was willing to live with the land and not against it like his predecessors. Nipeì already knew about Ethan, the real question was about the rest of his people, but that was another story for now.

There was much to do, but Nipeì had to think of how to start. The clothing was of little importance, even if the difference was immense. Nipeì was wearing the traditional loin clothe around her waist. Hers was a dark-purple, bordered by white lines, with some symbols drawn on it and a lot of decorations, and ornaments, hanging from what could be described as a sort of belt wore apparently solely for that purpose. Among these decorations were different types of beautiful pierced rocks with a small string going through them, ended by a equally pretty and small medallion representing a flying Ikran. A few other ornaments such as this one hung from her waist. Most of these were actually spiritualistic, and representing different animals of Pandora performing actions such as jumping, running or flying. Vatlo'ek was not a tribe on which the Humans had much data, if any at all. They were animalists, even more so than most other clans, even the Omaticaya. Their rituals and traditions reflected this, just as all the different clans had seemingly different ways of showing their faith towards the land and Eywa, even if it all came to the same.

The upper part of her body was covered by bands of clothes held in place by being tied to two bones covering her breasts and going all around her back.

Nipeì had no idea how the Sky People could wear the clothes they had. It was not that it looked particularly uncomfortable, but she simply did not see the use to it. Pandora knew rain seasons, but nothing like those on the Human's earth, and they did not know cold as humans did. At least not in the region they were in. Covering large parts of their body could only restrain their movements, and for the feline Na'vis, restraint of movement was out of the question.

Nipeì stood up quickly, her tail waving around as she seemed happy enough of his answer.

''Well then. There is much to tell, to see. You will not come to the village. Not yet. I will judge when...and if. I will leave you time to get ready, and speak with your own people. Change your clothes. Be light, and swift. Meet me here when you will be ready, Es'han, and we will be able to begin.''

[Draco_James]

Ethan watched Nipeì stand, and quickly did the same, not quite sure if she was about to take off expecting him to follow. Instead, it seemed that she wished to inform him of how they were going to proceed. He wasn't surprised to hear that he wouldn't be going back to the village with her yet, and was happy to know he'd get a chance to tell the others what was going on and get ready a bit before heading out. He wasn't sure what he was going to do about this clothes, though.

"Of course. I will let the others know what I will be doing, and... I will see what I can do about my clothes..." he replied, giving her a nod, "I should be back fairly soon."

He turned, heading back the way he'd come, back into the ship and unlinked from his avatar. He headed to the command center of the ship-turned-base, where the others were waiting.

"Well?" William asked simply as the younger man entered the room.

"Well, she... invited me to learn the ways of the Na'vi... at least some of them. Sort of a test to find out if we can learn to think like they do - about nature. If we can learn to see," Ethan replied, glancing between the rest of the others.

"Do you think you can? I mean... no offense intended Ethan, but... you don't strike me as exactly... an outdoorsman..." Anya said, trying to put it delicately. She was a far more athletic person than he was in her human body, and had taken to linking much more easily than he had, though his control over his avatar had grown to match hers over time during their training.

"Maybe I'm not, but I'm willing to try. I want to try to see this world the way they do," Ethan replied adamantly, though not angrily, since he could understand her concern, "I know it's not going to be easy, but... I'm claustrophobic, and I flew to another planet on spaceship to live in this... tin can... When I really want to accomplish something, I'm not afraid to work for it. I told Nipeì that I would do this, and I fully intend to. And in any case, I'm... pretty certain the invitation was only for me, which means its me, or no one." Anya raised her hands to show that she wasn't going to argue with his point.

"Sounds like you've got some interesting times ahead, then... When is this all supposed to start?" William asked, not about to question Ethan's dedication after that.

"Pretty much... now... I'm just suppose to be getting ready... talking with you, changing into something more suitable, and go back out and meet her," Ethan replied. There was a brief conversation that followed, with William just asking Ethan to wear an audio communicator in case there was some sort of emergency, and then Ethan headed back to the link room, linking back into his avatar.

He still wasn't entirely sure what to do about his clothes. There wasn't a lot of variety - t-shirts, cargo shorts and pants, vests for carrying some equipment. He ended up deciding that emulating what the male Na'vi he'd seen wore would probably be his best bet. This ended up meaning getting rid of the pair of oversize shoes he'd been wearing, along with the shirt - something which immediately made him feel a bit self-conscious simply because it wasn't what he was used to. When he stepped back out of the ship he was just wearing a pair of shorts, a throat-mic necklace and the accompanying earpiece speaker clipped onto his earlobe, though both were turned off for the moment, since they were only for if he needed to contact the ship in an emergency. He felt a little naked like this after going his entire life wearing all the clothes that humans did, and being outdoors without shoes on felt strange at first, too.

Regardless, he headed over toward where he'd spoken with Nipeì before. He was nervous, but excited and most definitely looking forward to this - his chance to actually learn the Na'vi way.

[TwinkleMoon]

She was brought out of her thoughts when Ethan came right back outside, walking towards her. He had now nothing covering his torso, and Nipeì immediately notice the difference from her own people. The Na'vi had well carved chests and muscles where Ethan, his Avatar still being probably more athletic than his real body, had less pronounced curves, remembering a young Na'vi. it would change in time, wanting or not. The rest of his clothing was acceptable enough. ''Come.'' Said the woman, accompanied by a nod of her head in the immediate direction of the forest. She knew he would follow as she left.

There was a difference in the way she behaved while moving. The first time, she would look back at them and had even stopped to let them rest or slow pace. Now it was on a whole different level. Nipeì started by walking and when they entered the forest, she began running as a Na'vi would, jumping from obstacles to obstacles while perfectly keeping her balance at all time. The secret of the Na'vi was their tail, which allowed them to keep balance at all time without needing their arms, which allowed them for move movements like holding a bow in aiming for exemple. It was not something Nipeì could teach Ethan, since it was inborn to the Na'vi, and they most likely never thought of it. As time goes by, if Ethan could learn to keep up, it would probably also become natural for his body.

Still, from time to time, Nipeì stopped in her tracks a few second to make sure Ethan was still alive and keeping up. The goal of this seemingly aimless trailblazing through the forest was to see how long he could keep up. So far, the man fared better than what she had though. She knew the man, in his original form, was no warrior or hunter. From what she heard of similar other Sky peoples from her elders, such humans were not particularily strong physically.

The run through the forest soil kept on for a bit longer until Nipeì stopped dead in her tracks in a small clearing where the sun pierced through the trees. The place was beautiful. It was far enough, surely Ethan would be more than tired as of now. If not, the Sky People would be more tough than what she had been told.

''To see like the Na'vi, you have to move like the Na'vi.'' She said, not looking directly at him, but rather at their surrounding as if she was looking at something he was not seeing. ''To feel the wind, to move as one with the forest. No sounds, no heavy steps. Only...respect, tread softly. You must see the forest, but the forest must not see you.'' Her words were very serene and softly spoken.

''We pause. It is safe here to rest. The day is young...we have time. We speak now. If you have questions, speak first, now is the time.'' She said, the serious tone giving place to a heart warming smile. It was her way of putting the people at ease.

[Draco_James]

Ethan returned Nipeì's nod as he approached, beginning to follow as she turned to walk toward the edge of the clearing. He easily kept up a few steps behind her as she walked. When they entered the trees, though, that changed completely. She broke into a run, starting to move through the jungle with a grace that stunned Ethan for a moment. After a moment of surprise, he started after her. His avatar was a bit more physically fit than his own body - or at least it felt that way, given that it's physiology was adapted to this environment. He was actually surprised that he was managing to keep up with Nipeì as well as he was. It was, however, obvious to him even as he ran after her that she was managing to keep up this speed with far less effort.

Her movements were fluid, balanced, optimized. His were nothing short of clumsy. He stumbled often, losing his footing when trying to jump up onto obstacles, slipping while trying to run along the trunks of fallen trees. It was really only by sheer application of muscle that he was able to overcome his lack of grace and keep her in his sight, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer as he started to have to breathe harder and harder to get enough oxygen to his muscles. When they came to the clearing, and Nipeì stopped in the pool of sunlight that shone down through the canopy of the jungle, Ethan was glad for the chance to rest. At the same time, though, he wished he didn't have to stop.

He was taking in long, deep breaths through his nose, letting them out through his mouth, as she spoke to him. He felt absolutely exhilarated, though - he'd never been able to just run before, never had the space to. For a claustrophobic like himself, suddenly having the room to move like that was almost inexpressibly liberating.

"Well, I know that now I do not move like a Na'vi - in fact, I would guess that I could not be much further from it," he said, almost apologetically, knowing he'd been noisy, his footfalls heavy, "But I believe I can learn, in time, and I will certainly do my best to." He paused a few moments, smiling back at her, and looked around the small clearing, just taking in the sight of it, the sounds, the smells.

"I know that I am a long way from seeing this world as you do, but it is truly beautiful to me... I never found much comfort on... my world - Earth," Ethan paused a little - it almost didn't feel right to call it 'his' world at all, for just this reason, "Small spaces have always made me uneasy, made me feel like I am trapped. Honestly, this place feels more... right to me, than anywhere else I've ever been, even standing here in a body that isn't my own..."

[TwinkleMoon]

While she understood the idea of small spaces, Nipeï could hardly understand the fear that came with the definition of what Ethan spoke about. This world they came from seemed rather strange. It sounded like a cage more than a home, hearing about it from this man. Nipeï could almost nunderstand why the first of his people wanted to be here permantly and forced themselves on the people. Yet, in all her ignorance, she did not know that what they wanted really was just the ore in the soil of Pandora, and not its fresh air.

''This body is your own.'' Nipeï said, most surprisingly.
''The body is yours, only your spirit is fake. You have the body of a Na'vi, not the spirit of one, you are not connected to Eywa. This said, it does not mean I believe your spirit to be essentially bad, just...foreigner.'' She said, calmly, while she took a piece of grass and proceeded to remove its leaves bit by bit as she talked. Once done, and done talking, she took the remaining part of the plant and stored it in a pouche hanging amongst the decorations of her waist clothing, probably full of other kind of ingredients or things only a Na'vi knew the use of.

Nipeï stood up, putting the knife she sued to strip the plant of its leaves back in its sheat, and turned to Ethan, her tail whipping the air behind her.
''You surprise me, Es'han. Most Na'vi would not want Sky People here. Those who lost family kept fear in their heart, and gave it to their children. Even the Vatlo'ek does not want me here, in the end.''

There was a small silence, in which Nipeï wanted him to understand the reality fo things right now. It was not the first time she told him, and he probably already know, but it had to be crystal clear that even her showing him a few things did not mean acceptance by the majority, but only by her. And even then...

''I was curious. I do not share their fear. You spoke to me earlier of your world, of your parents.'' She seemed hesitant to share the next bit of information, it showed in her facial expression. Her ears laid back in hesitation.
''I did not have anyone to give me this fear. My parents died during the time of great sorrows. At the hands of the Sky People.'' Her voice was soft, low but also very calm.

''I held anger in my hearts, but the teachings of Eywa taught me better. Along with the words of my true mother. I thought I would belike Koa'yx and my brethren, but I always was the curious and adventurous one.'' This last part of her story was said with a smile showing her teeths, along with her particularily pronounced canines.
''This is why I was intrigued by your people. And you stood out the most.''

This explained why she acted the way she did with him rather than any of the other Humans. And why she proved to be Ethan only 'ally' as of now among the Na'vi people.

[Draco_James]

Ethan was definitely surprised by Nipeï's comment about the body. When she elaborated, though, he supposed he could understand her point of view, it was just different from him. He thought of his mind - his spirit, in a sense - as being the part that was real, because that was him, whereas the body he was in wasn't the one he'd been born in. To her, it seemed, the body was real, was Na'vi, and it was his mind and spirit that weren't. He nodded in understanding, and part of him wanted to ask if she thought that it was something that could really change - if he could come to see the world as the Na'vi did, to truly be welcome amongst them. He didn't post the question, though, perhaps because he was afraid her answer might be a no.

That concern was made more tangible when she admitted that most of her people didn't want humans here, and even her tribe apparently didn't really want her to be here with him. It was something he'd already known on some level, or at least guessed, but hearing it directly from her caused him to frown a little. He nodded slightly again, though, to show he understood why that would be. He got to his feet as well, not sure if she was planning on starting to walk again, but regardless, moving around freely felt good, a nice contrast to his time spent in the ship.

What came next was surprising too, in a way. It had been obvious from the beginning that the Na'vi woman hadn't been afraid, or at least not as afraid as the others, as she'd been willing to speak with him, and now even teach him. Hearing her tell him that, though, and then learning that it was all despite her parents having died at the hands of humans, was shocking. He frowned deeply, looking away in shame felt for his people.

"I'm so sorry..." he said quietly, but she continued, explaining why she didn't fear or hate them, and in fact why she was drawn to them as she was. Her smile, striking him as a very beautiful sight, brought a small one to his lips as well, and he was left unsure of what to say in response to hearing that to her he stood out the most to her among his people.

"Thank you..." he said a few moments later, "I hope that you find me - and my people - worthy of your kindness..." He glanced away toward the trees around them for a few moments as he worked up to asking the question he'd been afraid to before, deciding that he did want to know after all. He turned his head back toward her, meeting her eyes, "Nipeï... do you think that there is a real chance that I can learn to see the world as you do - to have the spirit of a Na'vi, and be connected to Eywa?"