Fate's Game | Lo'ak Sully

Prologue

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(POV: Narrator)

The day Fay'tari arrived at the forest was a dark one, in more ways than it being difficult to see.

It had taken her a day to get there on the back of her Mother's ikran, rendering it almost her bedtime by the time she stepped foot on solid ground once again. Being only six at the time, Fay'tari wasn't used to the late nights and was growing significantly more tired as every minute passed. Ikeyni had tried to get her daughter to fall asleep as she flew however the mind of a six year old who's never been outside of her own clan's territory was destined to wander.

But business cannot be left unfinished. Despite her daughter's need for sleep, Ikeyni brought her to speak to the Omaticaya clan's leader immediately. She held Fay'tari's small hand and guided her through the cave where the clan had relocated and placed her in front of Jake Sully and his mate Neytiri.

Ikeyni conversed with them for a while, letting Fay'tari gather her surroundings and calm her excitement of being in a whole new environment to the one she was used to. She didn't pay much attention to the family that was stood in front of her, however when she did try to catch a glimpse of the clan's leader she'd have to tilt her entire body upwards to be able to see only the bottom of his chin.

Eventually though, Fay'tari was required to speak next. Her mother nudged her forward, to which she responded knowingly by gesturing her hand up to her forehead and then down in front of her to greet the Sully's. When they responded, she waited where she stood for them to speak first.

To her slight surprise, though she could barely understand what was going on, Neytiri took a step closer to the little girl and asked her the first question. "Why is it that you came here? To us?" She tilts her head downwards to watch Fay'tari as she came up with an answer.

"I want to be a mighty warrior!" Was her reply, smiling up to the Na'vi, full of confidence and joy.

It seemed Neytiri had a few more things to say however before she could get anything out, her husband stepped in to take charge of the situation. He bent down in front of Fay'tari and spoke to her in a much quieter tone compared to Neytiri.

"You know that takes a lot of work, right? Are you ready for all of that?" Fay'tari noticed that he spoke differently to the rest of the Na'vi, which made her look at him a little funny. Nevertheless, she nodded directly and allowed Jake to step back from her to talk to Ikeyni some more about the plans for her daughter.

As they did so, the little girl poked out from behind Jake, looking towards the rest of their children who were stood in a line behind them. What struck Fay'tari's interest was that the boy with five fingers instead of four was discreetly pulling the girl with five fingers instead of four and proceeding to act oblivious despite the fact he was stood right next to her. She watched as they began to hit one another repeatedly, causing the other boy with four fingers instead of five to have to step in and separate them by placing himself in-between them and crossing his arms in annoyance.

This evoked a laugh from six year old Fay'tari and as her Mother heard it, she quickly pulled her daughter back by her arm and held her in place by putting her hand on her shoulder.

Noticing the girl's restless state, Jake took the initiative to suggest that she be put to bed for the night and they shall continue to discuss things in the morning. However, Ikeyni refused. She claimed that things had to be sorted then and there. With no other choice, Jake continued with Neytiri at his side, watching as Ikeyni's tired girl was yawning repeatedly and began to close her eyes slowly before blinking them open again suddenly.

Before Fay'tari could fall asleep stood up, the conversation came to a close. It had been decided that Fay'tari would be allowed to stay with the Omaticaya clan for as long as it took for her to become a true warrior in her own as well as her Mother's respect. Jake had told Ikeyni that his children were also beginning to train and that her daughter was welcome to join them as they did. Agreeing by whatever means necessary, Ikeyni thanked Jake and Neytiri before taking her daughter over to where she was supposed to sleep for the night before they made her a proper station.

Without even so much as telling her daughter the outcome of the discussion, Ikeyni lay her down onto her bed before closing her eyes manually and telling her to "sleep now," as she had a "big day tomorrow". Too tired to understand her Mother, Fay'tari didn't realise what "big day" meant and began to slow her breathing and try to fall asleep. Ikeyni stayed sat next to her daughter's bed until she was sure she was sleeping, before getting up and trying not to make even the slightest sound.

Her judgement was wrong, though. Fay'tari had heard her Mother's rustling as she got up, peeking open her eyes a touch to see where she was going. When the girl came to realise that Ikeyni was no longer in the room with her, she sprang up from the lowered bed and rushed outside to try and spot her. In the far distance, she saw her Mother creeping off and heading into the forest once again, causing Fay'tari to go after her.

She followed her across tree roots high above, small bridges and dense pieces of bush where she could've easily lost her way or even fallen from insane heights if it wasn't for the sound of her Mother's footsteps. Ikeyni let out a familiar cry, resulting in her ikran landing directly before her before she mounted it. It began to flap its wings, raising higher and higher off of the ground.

Fay'tari rushed to catch her Mother, scrambling through thick bushes and over small rocks to get there in time, but she was too late. The girl tripped and stumbled onto the floor in front of her after not looking where she was going, desperately looking up at her Mother who was flying away without even so much as a goodbye. The girl yelled out for her Mother, beginning to cry as she was growing scared of being left alone in a place she knew nothing of.

Fay'tari thought that her Mother would be staying with her as she trained to become a warrior, she didn't know that she was going to be left to do it by herself. But that's exactly what happened to her that day. Ikeyni had left her daughter with the Omaticaya clan without telling her she would be going or even bidding her a farewell.

The girl began to sob for her Mother, brushing off the dirt and limping towards where she'd taken off from, looking up to see her go. When she couldn't spot her, Fay'tari span in circles trying to figure out from which direction she'd come from, receiving no luck and only increasing fear.
She began to panic, running around and trying to find a place which looked familiar to her, but it was much too dark. It all looked the same, no sign of any life or any source of help nearby.

The little girl was lost. Lost in a place she'd never been before, exhausted and frightened.

If you were to ask her, Fay'tari would say that she has no recollection of that day whatsoever. That isn't entirely true. Fay'tari isn't lying when she says she can't remember flying over to the forest for the first time, nor is she lying when she says she can't remember meeting the Sully's. However she's lying through her teeth when she says she can't remember how she felt that day her Mother abandoned her there.

She realised then that she was on her own.

That was the day that the little girl who once loved to wield her spear, began to wield it out of necessity and need for survival. That was the day Fay'tari realised that nobody was coming to save her. From then on, she stopped being a kid and was forced to grow up.

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