I Have Crossed the Stars to Find You - BOOK ONE

Chapter 14 - Part of the People

This chapter is a bit early but I'm impatient so I'm posting this one now and I'll post the next one tomorrow

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

3rd Person

The following evening Rose's initiation ceremony takes place, beginning with Ozue carefully painting all over her upper body with white paint and her fingertips, the two of them quietly humming a song together while Rose gently fidgets with the item of jewelry in her hands. It was a necklace Jake had given her earlier that day before she was swooped away by the other women of the clan to be prepared for the ceremony, and she planned on putting it on once Ozue was done and the paint was dry. Ninat sat behind me braiding my hair, humming along with us as she did. The babies were all with her mother and father tonight so she and Norm would be able to celebrate my initiation with me and the rest of the clan, and once she finished braiding my hair she reached around and gently grabbed the necklace from my hands, helping me put it on and securing the clasp at the back of my neck. Ozue finally finished the painting a few minutes later and allowed it some time to finish drying before letting me change into my ceremonial clothing; a dark brown tewng that had wider loops over my hips and the part of it that covered between my legs was longer on both the front and back of the article of clothing, then a chest covering made of dark green vines, dark purple feathers, and stark white beads placed randomly over the front of it until they looped down into a small but pretty design where the item stopped under her chest. Rose was also given a long string of more white beads of varying sizes, which she needed Ninat's help to loop and secure it around her waist over the tewng.

Once she was finally ready Rose walked out onto the ground floor of New Hometree with both her friends, the three of them all holding hands as Rose was very nervous, Ninat and Ozue gently squeezing her hands in reassurance before letting them go so she could stand in the very center of the ground floor. The first one to place their hands on her was Neytiri, who placed them on her shoulders with a small smile. Next, there was Ninat, Norm, and Ozue, each of them resting a hand along her upper back, underneath her braid and she suppressed a laugh as she heard Ninat quietly scold Norm for accidentally touching it, muttering something about how he would mess it up. Rose's attention was drawn away from her friends as she felt someone step up next to her, a soft smile and a quiet pure coming out of her as she saw it was Jake. He smiled back down at her and gently rested his hands on her; one on the small of her back and the other pressed against her abdomen, leaning down to speak to her quietly as other members of the clan began to join the growing connected circle, "Nga 'ur yuey, ma yawne. (You look beautiful)" She thanked him quietly before they both shut up so Neytiri could begin reciting the ceremonial lines, her eyes locked onto Rose's own as she speaks, "Nga lu 'aw leNa'vi. Kaltxì si Omaticaya olo', ma tsmuke. (You are one of the People. Welcome to the Omaticaya clan, my sister.)"

Once she was finished she smiled at Rose and the entire clan erupted into loud cheers, celebrating where they stood for a few minutes before slowly breaking off and spreading out across the ground floor, though Rose smiled softly as she felt the warmth of Jake's hand remain on the small of her back.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Rose

I looked up at Jake next to me and smiled wider as I saw his eyes already on me, his ears pricking up and tail swaying happily as he realized I was wearing the necklace he had given me. We just stood together and watched everyone celebrate for a while, Jake's hand had moved from my back to wrap loosely around my waist and I had my head leaned slightly against his chest, one of my arms wrapped around his torso and the other hand playing gently with the beads of my necklace as I watched the others dance around with a smile on my face.

After a bit I felt Jake gently tap at my hip with his hand and I immediately looked up to his face, smiling still, "Hm?" He smiled back down at me as usual and leans down to press a soft kiss to my temple before looking me in the eyes, his studying mine for a few short seconds before he spoke, quiet enough that only I could hear, "Would you like to go somewhere with me? It'll be fun, just the two of us.. I wanna show you somewhere special that I found on one of my hunts a few weeks back." I nodded excitedly and we managed to slip out of the crowd, thinking we weren't seen as we snuck carefully up the staircase before bolting up the other levels to the top to mount our ikran, leaving Hometree together with matching cheers and whoops in celebration of my initiation, unknowing that Ninat, Ozue, Norm, and Neytiri had all seen us leave and they all smiled knowingly to each other from their spots amongst the crowd.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

This was a short chapter but y'all know what's coming next 🤭