Na'vi...A Tsu'tey FF

Log Entry: 18

They rode out to the four winds. To the horse clans of the plain, to the ikran people of the mountains. When Toruk Macto called them, they came. Riders vault onto their armored direhorses. Banshee riders raise spears and bows, spurring their mounts to leap skyward. With a whoosh and the crack of mighty wings, Jake returns. Jake and Neytiri alight from his legendary mount. Around them hundreds of banshees are landing. A gathering of eagles. Nyami can see hundreds of Na'vi streaming down into the Well of Souls and many hundreds more camped in the forest above it. Direhorse riders are arriving along many trails. Banshee riders circle and swoop, darkening the sky above the grotto. Jake, standing next to the Leonopteryx, watches his army gathering. Nyami unlinked her hand with Tsu'tey as he spoke with the plains clan leader. Tsu'tey gave her a look as she walked away from him to Jake. Tsu'tey eye went below the waist to where the other clan leader playfully smacked him.

Jake saw Nyami approaching and paused his talk with Neytiri. His attention went to his former best friend. Nyami walked with confidence, like nothing could tear her down. The Na'vi believed it, as did Jake. He'd been with her long enough to know she stays true to her word. Nyami sets her mind to something, there's no doubt that she'd follow through with it. Jake tensed as Nyami got closer. The last they talked, she told him she'd kill him. She greeted him silently, touching her forehead and moving her finger toward him. It was the nonverbal way of saying I See you.
"Nyami, I really am sorry. I regret everything."
"Not everything." She nods toward Neytiri. Jake looks at Neytiri, shyly sneaking glances at the two. Jake smiled at her.
"Yeah, maybe not everything. But I do regret not trusting you, and giving the Colonel information. I just-needed an out. Something I could do without feeling helpless. It felt good being important, being relied on, being able to do something on my own. Getting praise and recognition. I missed that, and while you did everything you could, you would never fill the void. The only thing that did was-"
"Neytiri. Being part of the People. I get it. I see you striving for forgiveness and redemption. I've decided to change my oath. I'll kill you when this is all over, if you fail. Succeed, and you live to die another day." Nyami offered.
"Then I won't fail." Jake nodded. Nyami put out her hand. Jake slapped it and fist bumped her. Nyami smiled a little. "Come on, you know you want to. Smile Nyami." Jake coaxed her. She laughed lightly and wrapped her arms around his torso.
"Welcome back, big brother." Nyami smiled. Jake mimicked her grin at the use of her old nickname for him. They were so close, they were family. A small annoyance was seen in Tsu'tey as he waltzed over to Nyami and Jake hugging. He gently pulled Nyami to his chest as he hardly pushed Jake away from her.
"Mine." Tsu'tey hissed. Jake laughed.
"I see you, sister." Jake said his goodbye. Tsu'tey raised a brow at her title. Nyami simply giggled and shook her head at him.

Human Jake, Nyami, Norm and Trudy are gathered around the comms monitor, talking to Max.
"I don't know how secure this channel is." Max said, looking around.
"Talk fast." Nyami ordered.
"It's crazy here, Jake. It's full mobilization. They're rigging the shuttles as bombers. They've made up these big pallets of mine explosives. It's for some kind of shock and awe campaign." Max informed.
"Freakin' daisy cutters." Trudy cursed.
"Holy shit." Norm followed, Trudy rubbing off on him.
"Can you talk to Selfridge? Maybe we can cut some kinda deal before this thing goes all the way." Jake offered the peaceful option.
"No, Quaritch has taken over. He's rolling and there's no stopping him."
"When?" Nyami asks.
"Oh six hundred tomorrow." Max tells them. Nyami takes that in.
"Thanks." Jake said. Max signs off.
"We're screwed." Norm mutters.
"And I was hoping for some sort of tactical plan that didn't involve martyrdom. We're going up against gunships with bows and arrows."
"We have 15 clans out there. That's over 2,000 warriors. And, we know these mountains. We fly them. You fly them. They don't. Their instruments won't work up here. Missile tracking won't work. They'll have to fire from line of sight. If they bring the fight to us, then we have the home field advantage." Nyami argued.
"You know he's gonna commit those bombers straight to the Well of Souls." Trudy said.
"That's right. Because I gave it to him on a plate." Jake grimaces.
"We both did." Trudy confessed.
"If he takes out the Well of Souls, it's over. It's their main line to Eywa, to their ancestors, it'll destroy them." Norm panicked.
"I guess we better stop him." Nyami shrugged. Jake looks like he's about to collapse. He's gaunt, eyes deeply shadowed, hands shaking. "You need to get some rack." She told him.
He grabs a packet of freeze-dried crystals and pours them directly into his mouth, chewing them up.
"Gonna have to settle for coffee."

Hundreds of hunters from many clans prepare their weapons. Hunters paint the wings of their banshees like war ponies. Direhorses are painted and ornamented with totemic streamers. The Na'vi paint and pierce themselves. Dance. Bathe in the smoke of cleansing herbs, ritual purification. Huge drums are beaten. A dark primeval energy. They are psyching themselves up for battle. Nyami, Tsu'tey, a group of banshee riders squat around an animal skin on which he has drawn the silhouette of a Scorpion gunship, like a hunt totem.
"Strike here and here." Nyami splats red dye at the centers of the circles symbolizing the rotors. The Na'vi absorb the lesson eagerly, like kids. She sees Trudy approaching and breaks off. Tsu'tey stays with the hunters, talking about what they've learned.
"You know our chances suck." Trudy said to Nyami in a low tone.
"Yeah."
"Going up against gunships with bows and arrows..."
"What's your point? You want in? Sure, we need all the help we can get. Don't expect the Na'vi to help fix anything in it though." Nyami jokes.
"Right." Trudy taps her fist and walks away toward her Samson.

The cook-fires of the battle camp flicker like a constellation around the edge of the Well of Souls as Nyami slips down into the darkened, empty amphitheater. She moves to the Mother Tree, gnarled, ancient, majestic. The roots spread in all directions, like the center of the world. Nyami steps forward. The willow-like tendrils sway toward her, moving in a breeze that isn't there.
"I've never done this in my life." She squats at the base of the tree. "And I'm probably just talking to a tree right now. But if you're there, I need to give you a heads up." She looks up into the tree. The hanging tendrils undulate softly. It's easy to imagine a presence. "If Grace is there with you, look in her memories, she can show you the world we come from. There's no green there. They killed their Mother, and they're gonna do the same thing here." From up in the tree, looking down. Woodsprites float in silence, moving around aimlessly. "More Sky People are gonna come. They're gonna come like a rain that never ends-" Tsu'tey approaches silently behind her, listening. "--until they've covered the world. Unless we stop them...Look, you chose me for somethin'. And I'll stand and fight, you know I will. But I could use a little help here." Nyami senses Tsu'tey and turns.
"Our Great Mother does not take sides. She protects only the balance of life." Tsu'tey explains. Nyami sighs as comes to him, intertwining her long fingers with his.
"It was worth a try." She tells him. They lean in, foreheads touching, bodies pressed together. Holding each other in this, the last moment of peace.