Petrichor

Vitrautral

Mo'at hadn't seen her mate's body. Neytiri had ended up having to drag Ilhia away, stating that their mother would be worried for them. And Tsu'tey.

It was hard. She didn't want to leave him. Neither did Neytiri. But it was duty that got them on their feet, and their father's last words that got them walking.

She'd lost her spear. Yet another thing to mourn. She felt lucky that she hadn't left her songcord, that she'd tied it to her pxen on the way down the spiral before Jake betrayed them.

He'd left. She hadn't seen where he'd gone and she didn't care enough to wonder.

She still had her own bow. Neytiri was eldest, so there was no competition for her father's bow. Her own bow was still made from Hometree, not as elegant as her father's, but still fully functional.

They caught up to the People soon enough. Vitrautral, Tree of Souls, was the only place they could go. The neighbouring clans were ages away, and they'd be lucky to have enough pa'li anyway.

She saw Kxiki and was glad she'd made it out.

Neytiri had told her what had happened on the ground. Hometree had fallen, and some of the People were in the wrong place. There would be no way to recover their bodies for a proper burial.

A couple of the People had made a makeshift carrier, and Grace's body was slumped in it, being dragged along as they made their way.

She didn't blame her. Jake had betrayed everyone, including Grace. There was nothing that could be done. He had told them at the start that he was a Marine, and she guessed once a warrior, always a warrior. Even if it meant murdering hundreds in the process.

As Grace's body was unconscious, she assumed that Jake's body was also somewhere out there. She hoped the fire would take him. It meant she wouldn't have to deal with him any more.

She left her sister standing as she watched the People climb away from the destroyed Hometree, and joined her mother walking.

Mo'at had cried when the two sisters broke the news to her. Now, her face was devoid of any emotion, apart from the evident fact that tears had streaked down her cheeks and she hadn't wiped them away.

It felt surreal, like a dream. She had sickness when she was younger, it had went around the whole village. Her mother had floated in and out of her vision and she didn't understand what was going on at the time. When the somwew had broke, it was days later and she couldn't think clearly what had actually happened.

Needless to say, she tried to steer clear of people who weren't feeling well and had a temperature. She couldn't afford to have that kind of illness again. But that's what it felt like. Some kind of bad temperature dream.

Since Utral Aymokriyä had been destroyed, Vitrautral was the closest site that they could connect with Eywa. It was a few hours walk, especially since what was left of the clan was carrying anything that they had managed to save before Hometree fell, and that there was children. If she had been on her own, she could have reached there in half the time. It was a journey she, Neytiri and Sylwanin used to do every few months.

The thought punched her in the chest and left her breathless.

They had lost everything.

It was not her job to look after the children. She was daughter of Olo'eyktan and Tsahik.

But there was a child who had been left behind by the gaggle of now motherless, fatherless children. His little legs couldn't keep up with them, and the female Na'vi, Ilhia did not recognise her, was already laden with two children, one on her front and one on her back, and was encouraging them to keep up with her.