Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{54}

Layontsin gasped awake when she was abruptly torn away from the memory.

When she opened her eyes and scanned around, she found herself still laying around inside the hut with Asim right beside her. Outside of the hut was already sunset due to the more vibrant colors of the sky through the canopy. Rai'uk was with them, wearing a face with more worry than Layontsin had ever seen him have before. Unil'tingai was the same, kneeled down beside them and having Layontsin's braid queue in her hand. The anthro thanator saw that the tsahik had separated her braid from the skyperson's hand, where her queue had previously been attached to. "Layontsin, my dear. Are you feeling alright?" Unil'tingai asked worriedly, reaching out to cup Layontsin's head in her hands. "What happened?" Layontsin asked as she clutched her head because of the headache that remained in her head. "You were crying uncontrollably. And so was AsimAngus. So much that we had to separate you from the bond." the tsahik said. "I was?" Layontsin asked, reaching up with one of her four arms to feel the sides of her snout.

Sure enough, she felt the moist trails of tears she had shed while she was in the memory. A lot of them as it was all over her. She looked back at Asim's unconscious body and also saw that his face was stained with tears. "Tell me, what did you see in his mind?" Rai'uk asked, stepping closer to sit down with them. Layontsin paused when he asked him that, remembering all that she had seen in Asim's memory and how much pain she went through seeing them. "Everything...I saw everything. He...Asim...he has suffered enough from everything...too much..." she said, the remainder of her tears beginning to slip out from her eyelids as she looked up at both clan leaders. Unil'tingai moved closer to rub Layontsin's back to calm her down as much as she could, the anthro thanator moving to hug her mother as she sobbed to let it all out of her chest. "Please. Tell us. What exactly did you see in his memories?" Rai'uk asked again, placing a hand on Layontsin's shoulder. "Many things are confusing. Even so, I will tell you everything that I saw." Layontsin said after a moment once she had calmed down fully.

***

Layontsin told the clan leader and the tsahik everything that she had seen, not missing out in anything.

She told them about Asim's past, how she saw him separated from his family and how the skypeople did horrible things to him. The worst being how they changed Asim, lied to him, and forced him to fight in gruesome battles that no na'vi could ever come to describe. Layontsin also told them that she had a feeling that skypeople had the power to create beings and to block the memories of others, as she also had the feeling that this was Asim's first time seeing all of this. The clan leaders stopped Layontsin in sections that they didn't understand, the anthro thanator doing the best she could to explain to them and even carving pictures on the ground. Unil'tingai looked heartbroken, casting a sad glance at Asim's body when Layontsin told them about how he had suffered greatly. Rai'uk was also moved a bit by what Layontsin told them, though she noticed him tense up when she got to the part of Asim fighting in a fierce and unstoppable manner. The way that Asim fought in those memories...Layonstin described it as something that even the best hunters couldn't stand a chance against. "He has spilled too much blood. From his kind and that of our own..." Rai'uk mused. Layonstin looked at him with an almost hurt face and then immediately moved her four arms around Asim's body protectively. "No...please, father...don't harm him..." Layontsin begged the clan leader.

Rai'uk and Unil'tingai were surprised that Layonstin was actually protecting the skyperson, and she realized this almost instantly. Yet she did not care if they reprimanded her or anything; she was now expressing what she thought and emphasizing it. Rai'uk looked at her...and then unexpectedly set down his spear that he had in hand to the side as he held up his hand. "Calm down, my daughter. I do not intend to kill him. I...this, what you have told me, about him, reminded me about what I did in the past." Rai'uk said, looking down at the skyperson in the clutches of the anthro thanator. "You mean...how you fought against the skypeople?" Layonstin asked. "More importantly, something that changed in part my view on them." He said, closing his eyes and sighing a bit. "Tell me. What was it?" Layonstin asked, loosening her hold on Asim's body but still keeping him near. The clan leader looked up at the small bonefire that was burning in the middle of the hut, staring at its dancing flames as he prepared to tell Layonstin what he knew.

"After some of my initial battles, Sylwanin, a na'vi from another clan informed me of skypeople destroying her home. I was enraged by hearing that, so I set out to fight them. What sparked my fury more was hearing another thing; skypeople using na'vi skin to teach their ways and language. I planned to confront them wherever they were in the metal village. I met the fake na'vi, the dreamwalkers that Sylwanin mentioned, but I met one of them that was quite different from the others. Her name was Grace, and unlike the other dreamwalkers and skypeople, she was kind, respectful, and on top of all, peaceful. I debated with her about the ways of her people, which were destructive and greedy. Yet she claimed that even when skypeople were prone to evil actions, that didn't mean every one of them was cruel. Grace...she was here on this world to learn about the na'vi and our home, so that the skypeople could learn how to live like us in peace with the forest."

However, I instantly forgot about that as I was immediately brought back into focus on what I was about to do; destroy the metal village. I was certain that by doing this I would help Sylwanin's people from the skypeople and their destructive plans. And I was successful in doing so, the skypeople running away in defeat after I killed so many of them. However...I heard something that really struck me. The voice of a skyperson father saying goodbye to their family. I didn't know how it was possible to get that message to their family if they weren't there, but regardless...I knew what I have just done; I have deprived a family from their father. In that moment I didn't care if it was a na'vi or a skyperson. All I thought about in that day was what I had become...the thing that I was sworn to hate. Even when I had sworn to myself to protect the helpless...the voice of that skyperson father still haunts my dreams. And now...this young skyperson...AsimAngus...almost became like me...now on the path of redemption...that I never got the chance to take..." Rai'uk told them as he stared at the fireplace, Layontsin listening what the clan leader had to tell. When Rai'uk finished, Layontsin was more surprised than ever when she heard what the clan leader has spoken. "Why...why didn't you tell us all of that?" Layontsin asked him. "I did. But the rest of the na'vi only focused on the glorious parts of me battling against the skypeople and freeing the other few clans from their tyranny. I...should have told you that myself. It was not my intention to hide it from you or the rest. I...I...wanted to help the clan become strong like me, but also strong in the mind so that we all can face another enemy. One that is always a part of us." Rai'uk said, looking at Layontsin and his mate Unil'tingai with a more honest face. For the first time, Layontsin saw that he was truly being sincere with them. "What kind of enemy?" Layontsin asked him.

Rai'uk responded by placing one hand on his heart and his head. "The enemy within us." He said.

"What do you mean?" Layontsin asked him. "Ourselves. If we do not learn how to control ourselves and always think we are the ones that should impart justice on others, and that we are always right, we will become blind to our own ways and cause greater suffering. Like I did. And the cycle of violence will never end." Rai'uk said, looking up from the fire to the entrance to the hut were all of the na'vi clan. Layontsin listened to the words of the clan leader and nodded slightly. "I understand now. I hope...I hope to follow the right path like you are doing now, father." Layontsin said with a bit of firmness in her voice, now understanding what he meant. The clan leader looked up at her and smiled slightly, moving his hands to hold one of her four hands in his. "Of course. I believe that you will do great in life." He said to her with a hint of pride in his voice. Layontsin smiled and then hugged the clan leader, her father, as tightly as she could to reaffirm her promise and that she was grateful for him telling her all that he knew. So that one day she could be strong like him and true to herself.

Afterwards she let go of the clan leader and continued to watch over Asim's unconscious body, waiting for him to wake up. "Do you think he will wake up?" Layontsin asked as she partially picked up  Asim. Unil'tingai reached out with one of her hands and placed it on his fore head, while the other one was placed in his chest where his heart laid. "His heart is still strong. Yet he feels...cold. I am not sure if some of our herbs can help him wake up." The tsahik said, removing her hands from Asim. "What can we do then?" Layontsin asked as she se the skyperson down gently. "All we can do is wait for him to wake up. Also, his skypeople friends should be on their way now that a hunter has gone off to give the message" the tsahik said, moving back so that Layontsin could be with Asim while she cooked some food. Layontsin nodded and continued to hold Asim gently in her grasp, not taking her eyes off from him so that she would be alert to any changes.

As the sun began to set behind the floating mountains, later, they heard the sounds of a metal beast approaching. Asim's friends have arrived.