Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{37}

The whole forest was at peace with everything.

Layontsin was laying on one of her usual spots where she took naps, regaining her strength and energy after the battle of last night. It also gave her minor wounds time to heal, more thanks to the treatment she was given by the Anurai clan. After everything that has happened, Layontsin felt at ease as she breathed calmly while resting. While the sounds of the forest continued to flow all around her, Layontsin continued to rest peacefully high above the canopy. She was currently dreaming about something, these being the few occasions when she actually had a dream instead of a dreamless sleep. In the dream, Layontsin was in the floating mountains as she perched over a ledge, overviewing the vast land that laid below and around her. Some banshees flew across the air above and below the mountains, occasionally she saw a glimpse of a Toruk flying high above the clouds. If it were a funny thought, she kind of wished that this dream would be about her getting one of the legendary beasts, this one choosing her, and becoming Toruk Makto, Rider of Last Shadow.

However, Layontsin felt that there was more for her to become the legendary warrior, and only Toruk was the one to decided who will be their rider. This made Layontsin very disappointed due to the fact that she needed something to fly on, and the banshee's, including tha larger ones, were not capable of carrying the anthro thanator's weight. Of course, she did manage to successfully bond with one of them so she could accomplish one of the feats that took part in the rite of passage that all young na'vi hunters underwent to become true warriors. Yet, she was incapable of riding one because of her large weight being a burden to the mount. Direhorses were another option, though she really wasn't used to riding those creatures as they were unstable. Feral thanators....were an exception, but Layontsin really didn't like the idea of riding another creature that she was related to. In the end, Layontsin chose to be on her own and travel by foot, on her own way so she could get to places and hunt.

Layontsin was so deep in thought, as well as the dream that was going to the next part, when her quills and crest flared a bit.

She detected something walking through the forest floor, approaching her locations slowly and steadily. Opening her eyes, she raised her head and turned around in search for the thing that was approaching. Layontsin continued to lay there, but crouched with arms and legs all reeled in from hanging down from the branch she was on to be prepared. One of her arms gingerly reached for the spear strapped on her back just in case that something would attack her or looked like something that needed to be driven off. Strangely, however, when she thought that the thing was about to show itself...it didn't. There was nothing that gave Layontsin a clue of where it may have gone. As if the thing has chosen to move away or has already sensed her and realized it would not be worth the trouble. She gave a sigh of relief as she rested her head down on her first set of arms to continue resting. Only to raise it back up as she felt something poking her tail. She gave an annoyed growl and opened her eyes to look at who or what was poking her, and got an unexpected surprise.

The one who had sneaked upon her was the skyperson Asim.

Layontsin nearly fell down from the branch she was resting upon as she realized who it was, and then regained her composure once she got up. "Asim? What are you doing here?" She asked him, sitting up and looking down at the small skyperson. Asim stopped as he retracted his hand away from her and spoke to her. "Layontsin...I...need help." Asim said, slowly as it seemed he was doing his best to speak in the na'vi tongue. "Help? What kind of help?" Layontsin asked as she calmed down and moved so she climbed down to the ground. Asim raised his hands and made some gestures to himself and then his head. "I...head...bad dream. No...sleep" Asim said, gesturing to himself and his head once again. Layontsin listened carefully to what he was saying, piecing things together with the words that he said. "You...had a bad dream? A nightmare?" She asked him, using the other word for bad dream and confirm she heard right. Asim looked at her and then nodded, stating that it was right. "Nightmare...every night" Asim said, using a bit of his alien tongue to describe the seriousness of it. Although she didn't know what it was about the bad dreams he was having, but she felt like it was urgent and important. If it were not that important, Asim wouldn't have gone out all the way to the forest on himself for help, Layontsin assumed. Though, he was here, with her, near the Anurai clan territory. So what was happening to Asim was something serious.

Which meant that Layontsin knew who to consult to when it came to things like these.

"Come with me. I shall take you to my mother, the tsahik, for answers." Layontsin said as she reached out with one hand and took one of Asim's arms. The skyperson looked up at her with some confusion, but when the word "tsahik" was mentioned, he was at ease and let her pull him as she began to walk. Even if he didn't comprehend completely what she just said, Layontsin could see in his eyes that he understood her. It's more, he didn't seem frightened anymore of her as he was letting her pull him with one of her four large arms and hands to guide him. "Thank you..." Asim said to her as he nodded, letting Layontsin lead the way. In no time, Asim was following her through the forest towards the village, not slowing down and always being close to her without falling behind. Even when she trotted or ran quickly, Asim always followed right behind her while she orientated herself to guide him to the village.

***

Some long moments later and the two reached the village.

As usual, the kids and some adults came over to greet them. They were happy to see Layontsin and Asim as well, the younger ones crowding around them. Asim smiled at them and let them approach him, Layontsin noticing that his wary demeanor has now changed into a more calm and welcoming one. The way he smiled and interacted with the na'vi now made Layontsin impressed her. It's more, him being near her made the anthro thanator feel more at ease when being in places with some people and in other times when there weren't. The more time she met up with him, the less worried she felt like before when she was alone or didn't know what to do next. Almost like the time when she had that mysterious indescribable feeling in her chest. She was so busy staring at Asim that she almost didn't notice the tsahik, Unil'tingai, approach them along with the clan leader. "Layontsin. Do you mind explaining what is Asim doing here? Did you bring him here?" The tsahik asked Layontsin. "Yes. I did. He came to me and asked for help. Your help as a tsahik, to be exact." Layontsin explained to her. The tsahik nodded and turned to Asim, who came to the two leaders and explained. Asim spoke to Rai'uk, who helped translate better what he was having trouble with. It appeared Asim was having some sort of nightmare, one that was being more and more constant. The last one seemed more concerning as Layontsin heard the words "fire" and "screams of pain", which concerned her and the others. The tsahik was thoughtful for a moment before she looked back at Asim.

"Follow me. All of you" she said before turning around and leading all three only to the main hut, in the center of the village.