Avatar: {Hybrid and Alien]

{73}

Eventually, the day of the annual Anurai clan celebration came. And Asim and his group headed straight for the village.

The whole clan was gathered into the center of the village, the members of the clan seeming to have grown in numbers over the past few hours. Some nearby clan members that knew of the Anurai clan's existence, which were new to the group and need to be clarified, were also present in this gathering. Those from the other clans were skeptical at first when they first saw the humans in the midsts of the Anurai clan, but after they have been informed of their place among the people, they soon started to get used to them. The large totem of the thanator skeleton has now been fully assembled, looming over the exact center of the village. The air around was filled with happy chatter, yips, howling, and shouts. There was also the noise of music instruments to add on to the spirit of the celebration, as well as, without exception, the smell of great food being made. "Welcome. We are happy that you have come here just in time" a na'vi of the Anurai clan told them, to which they smiled and thanked them for greeting them.

The group went to search for a place to settle down and watch the celebration continue until they were ready to be part of the storytelling play. "Okay. You guys all remember how we are going to do this?" Asim asked them, to which they nodded. "Truth be told, this is the first time I am truly getting nervous." Mikhail admitted, shivering a bit but not dropping his smile. "Definitely going to have to sit this one out. Now I am truly getting goosebumps as well." Emeralda said. "Will you ever drop that sour mood that you always have? Even for just a moment?" Kentaro asked, annoyed by Emeralda. "Jeez. When will you guys take a hint about my seriousness and then my jokeness? Never?" Emeralda asked, making everyone laugh. "We all are nervous. How about this; we snag some cooked meat and fruits before the main event starts? It's always a good way to get our spirits up." Shaka proposed to them. "Great. Afterwards I will have a marvelous time checking all of you for contamination. At my leisure." Kentaro said with a small smirk, rubbing his hands together. Shaka looked at Kentaro and frowned, a bit revolted by such thing. "Sure. Go ahead. The medicines, needles and drugs are at your disposal." Shaka said, making Kentaro's joke backfire immediately.

As the sun started to set and the place grew darker, torches were lit up. Soon the real festive was about to begin.

At the center there was a large fireplace set alight, right under the thanator skeleton. The sounds of drums beginning to beat now filled the air as na'vi dressed in weird but beautiful costumes began to swarm the clearing around the fire. The na'vi began to run around the fire, shouting(or singing as it was now difficult to tell with the random noises they made), galloping, jumping, twirling, sprinting, and so on. It was confusing to see this as there was no pattern or rhythm present in this, just random movements and sounds that the na'vi exhibited as they went around the place. Still, it was entertaining to watch as they saw their happy and high spirits, both from the spectators and the ones that danced. It went on for a while until they stopped once the music ended. The ones that danced returned from where they came and watched as the tsahik began to make her way to the center, the music also stopping momentarily.

Now everyone became silent when the tsahik began speaking, having a small torch alight in her hand and waving it around to spread some smoke. From what everyone could gather, this was the part where the tsahik was retelling the origins of the Anurai clan. It was the same as before, like they have seen in the cavern with the ancestral paintings, though this time it was all acting and the members of the other clan were included to reenact the time of conflict. Immediately right after, they cleared from the center as the tsahik continued speaking, new na'vi that have been marked with war paint along their bodies carrying large torches with flames as the music continued more intensely. They went around and waved them almost close to the spectators as the tone shifted. It was then that everyone realized that this was the part when the humans started to invade and spread chaos. The tsahik then gestured to the enormous thanator skeleton that looked above the fireplace, continuing to narrate. Rai'uk was spotted having climbed the large thanator skeleton and standing above the head section, holding a spear and his bow. He gave a war cry before jumping from the skull and in the middle of the torch-holding na'vi, beginning to wave and jab at them as if he were fighting off the humans by himself. And then other na'vi from the different clans returned to the stage ground, joining Rai'uk in his efforts to fight the humans and drive them away. The ones holding the large torches started to "flee" as if they have been defeated by the united clans of na'vi, making the audience hoot and ululate in celebration. Thought the na'vi that held the torches and represented the humans remained nearby, to symbolize that the fighting wasn't over yet.

That's when Layontsin appeared on top of the thanator skull, above from the crowd.

The anthro thanator had her spear out and holding it with one of her four hands that were outstretched, looking large and intimidating while the tsahik kept on narrating. Later Layontsin leapt down from the thanator skull and let out a loud and fierce roar, crest flaring and her mouth showing her obsidian teeth. "That's our sign. It's showtime." Asim said as he started to stand up, his friends started to get up from where they sat and making their way behind where the thanator skeleton was. Lily stayed behind with Shaka as the others went to their positions. Layontsin continued to snarl intimidatingly and swing her spear at the na'vi that held the large torches. Asim and his friends climbed up to the treetops with the things they would use to add special effects, while he remained hidden behind one large talon of the thanator skeleton. Then he saw that Layontsin headed to the trees, perching herself on a sturdy branch to wait and watch with vigilance. Seeing this, Asim took in a deep breath before putting his helmet with the painted face on and slowly stepped into the audience. Some gasps were heard as they witnessed Asim with his partially painted suit and helmet with scary face, making him more aware that it was working.

Asim crouched down in a ready position, looking and turning around as he expressed his alert posture. He continued to walk around the clearing for a moment before he looked up and noticed Layontsin observing him with a smile, knowing what to do. So, when she pounced on him, he let her pin him down. Then he did the same as they practiced before, him giving her a poke with his knife and escaping her before doing the fight that they practiced. Only this time Layontsin and Asim spoke like saying brave things of defeating each other as both "battled" with intensity. At the end Layontsin hit him in the head gently with the blunt side of her spear, Asim pretending to have been knocked down by falling to the ground and hearing that it made some na'vi adults and kids laugh. And then their laughter turned into surprised gasps as they looked up, seeing the shapes of the woodsprites begin to descend down on them as Asim's team slowly lowered them from the tree branches they were on. These were fake, made out of paper as the group was the one who made them, but their simplicity was all it took to impress the na'vi. The story continued, with Layontsin stopping from "stabbing" Asim with her spear once she saw the woodsprites float down.

After a moment she placed her spear on her back and began to tie Asim up like she did before, only this time the vines were fragile and could easily break Asim felt. Then the anthro thanator picked him up and slung him over her shoulder to pretend she would carry him, making other na'vi chuckle. Asim let her as she carried him over to where Rai'uk and some na'vi were. Layontsin set him down and he knelt down as Rai'uk began to speak with Layontsin, possibly the talk when he was unconscious and were discussing what to do with him. As they spoke, Asim then felt something prickle his senses, as if sensing that something was coming near. He didn't know what it was, but the feeling made him realize that something was very wrong. Asim looked up to the side where the audience was situated while the play continued, searching for anything suspicious. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except...when he looked closely up at the trees, he noticed some na'vi up there. At first he thought it was other na'vi trying to get a good look at the play, but then he noticed the markings and the ornaments on their faces. Asim's heart dropped when he realized those were bones and ash markings, the same ones that the Ash clan had when they first attacked. They were up in the trees, holding some sort of flutes in their hands and starting to raise them up to their mouths. Realizing with a start that those were weapons aiming at the Anurai clan leader, he wasted no time breaking free from the weak bindings and rushing to him.

"RAI'UK!!!!" Asim shouted before running towards him and knocking him down just in time before the attack began and pandemonium broke loose.