Petrichor

Bob

Ilhia hated to admit it, but she and Jake actually got along pretty well together. 

After the whole awkward encounter, she knew exactly where she stood with him and he with her. Tensions eased slightly and they began to trust each other. 

So much, anyway. 

He'd been with the clan for a couple months now. Even Tsu'tey was beginning to thaw a little bit. Just a little bit.

She'd taken him hunting yesterday, and he'd provided a clean kill. He was beginning to understand the language a lot better, and his Na'vi had been perfect. 

So today was his iknimaya. Tsu'tey had a few students who were also ready for their iknimaya, and they set off early on their pa'li. 

Ilhia would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Jake was still stupid, still human in his ways. 

She'd promised him that she would meet them there, so soon after they left she called her ikran, Txi'a, with the promise of a long run beforehand so that she didn't get agitated. Poor girl hadn't been very far with Ilhia teaching Jake, and she was a little bit antsy. 

"Hello, my beautiful girl," Ilhia crooned, feeding Txi'a a piece of meat and stroking her head. Txi'a nudged her. "I know, Txi'a, I haven't been very good to you recently, my sweet girl, but we are going on a ride. The skxawng Jake Sully is going to do his iknimaya today, and we're going to watch."  

Txi'a yipped at her, and Ilhia knew she was back in her good books. She made tsaheylu with the ikran and dove off the edge of the thick branch, opening her wings at the last second. It was such a rush, both for her and for Txi'a, who enjoyed things like this just as much as Ilhia did. 

She wasted some time passing over Utral Aymokriyä, Tree of Voices, and made plans in her head to visit there soon. Sometimes, if she was lucky, Eywa allowed her to speak to Sylwanin, to see how she was and to keep her memory alive. 

She wondered if Jake would visit there with her. 

She flew over the sacred site a couple of times, allowing Txi'a to take over while she thought, and then she decided to travel to where she thought Tsu'tey would be. She could see four figures in the distance, running over the ancient branches connecting some of the floating mountains. She kept her distance, not wanting to distract Jake. He had a one track mind, and she knew that if he saw her he'd lose his footing and probably fall to his death. 

A couple of months ago she would've welcomed that idea, but now she wasn't so sure. 

She landed at the waterfall and waited for them to appear. Txi'a paid only so much attention before flying off, presumably to fly around with the other ikran. 

She hadn't been waiting for long before Tsu'tey appeared, Jake and the other two students hot on his heels. Tsu'tey greeted her with a motion from his forehead to her, smiling at her. She grinned back at him. 

"Not too much trouble, Tsu'tey?" 

"Not bad. The skxawng is adapting," he said, with a slight shrug. Tsu'tey turned and faced the three. "Jake Sully will go first." 

Ilhia heard the laughter in Tsu'tey's voice and had to hide a grin. Jake had been busy trying to catch his breath back, but had smiled at her when he first saw her. Jake held out his bow to Tsu'tey, who snatched it from him. Ilhia raised her brows at him, and then followed Jake along the edge. 

He'd stopped at the opening, simply taking in the ikran in their natural habitat. When she came up behind him, she put her hand on his shoulder. 

"You will have to move quick like I showed. You will have one chance, Jake. The ikran will choose you." 

"How will I know when he chooses me?" 

There was no point in hiding it. "He will try to kill you." 

Jake scoffed. "Outstanding," he muttered. 

She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before letting go. He moved forward, towards the ikran, and she slowly came out of the opening, allowing Tsu'tey and the others to come out too. 

He began sizing up the ikran that didn't fly away from him, and it began. 

Ilhia remembered the day she had fought Txi'a. The girl had almost killed her, diving straight over the side of the cliff before they'd made tsaheylu. Neytiri had been frantic, flying with Seze to find her.

She'd made it though. And from the looks of it, Jake's ikran was ready to do the same. 

Jake was struggling to get his tswin over his shoulder, and while he was distracted, the ikran threw him off its back and over the cliff edge. 

"Jake!" Ilhia shouted, running over to the edge. She could hear Tsu'tey laughing behind her. 

He pulled himself up from the edge and jumped straight back into it with the ikran. No messing around this time. He wrapped his legs around the ikran's beak from behind, grabbed his tswin and the ikran's, and made tsaheylu. 

"Stop!" he ordered, and the ikran lay still. He took the yimkxa from the ikran's face, and the animal whined softly. 

"You must fly now, Jake. First flight seals the bond," Ilhia insisted, pushing him and the ikran towards the cliff. "Think, fly!" 

"Fly?" was Jake's response, and the ikran hurtled them both over the edge. 

Ilhia stood and watched with a grin on her face as both Jake and the ikran started screaming and not flying at all, instead bumping into the surrounding mountains and diving. 

He soon figured it out though, as they straightened out and he got himself into a proper position on the animal's back. 

Ilhia laughed and called for Txi'a. "He must have impressed you by now, Tsu'tey?" she asked as her ikran landed and she made tsaheylu. Tsu'tey only made a face and shooed her off. She grinned at him and pulled down her ionar on her forehead before diving over the edge herself. 

She soon caught up with him and called out a greeting. 

"Hey!" Jake shouted. Ilhia made another sound and directed Txi'a to the right, so that they didn't fly straight into one of the flying mountains. "Oh shit!" 

She turned left sharply so their ikrans were only a few feet apart. "Did you miss that mountain?" 

"Shut up," Jake replied, laughing. "This is awesome!" 

"What shall you call your ikran?" 

When Ilhia did her iknimaya, she already had a dozen names in her head for her ikran. Jake had known what iknimaya was, but she didn't think he was that organised. 

"Bob," he blurted. 

Ilhia narrowed her eyes and shifted on Txi'a. "Bob?" she repeated slowly. 

"Yup. Bob." 

"English name?" 

"Yeah." 

"You would not take Na'vi name for your ikran?" 

Jake flew towards her, knocking her a little. "You don't like Bob?" he asked playfully. 

She flew right back into him. "Bob is a boring name." 

"Well, you better get used to it, 'cause that's what this bad boy is called." 

She shook her head. "I feel sorry for your future children." Jake opened his mouth in shock, and Ilhia started laughing. "Skxawng."