Wildflower

7

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"That is not how you spell 'heart'."

Neytep glared at Grace, his chalk poised at the end of the word "hart". "How is this wrong."

"There's an 'e' in it, right Grace?" Anuk inserted. Neytep huffed as Grace nodded.

"But where does it go?"

Neytep swiped the chalk off of the board, drawing aggressive lines in the shape of an H, E, A, R, and T in its place. Grace nodded, and Neytep relaxed.

"Alright, Tsu'tey, you're next. Your word is 'brain'." René read from a biology textbook. They'd started learning anatomy last week, after Anuk couldn't articulate the English word for his injury. Spoiler, it was a bruised ankle, earned after a not-so-graceful landing during the group's first ikran ride. Over the past few days, Liza had grown better and more comfortable with Poppy, using any opportunity she had to take her out. She'd managed to earn a few cuts and even a sprained wrist (somehow) while learning how to control their direction, but she'd warmed up enough to be able to do flips and corkscrew dives. Now, she dreamed of being back with Poppy, gliding through the air, as she sat in the back corner of the classroom and idly penciled out a portrait of her beautiful banshee.

While Anuk carefully traced out his word on the board, Liza felt René's eyes trained on her. She looked up questioningly, and he smiled. "Liza, you can go for a walk if you want." Liza was fluent in both English and Na'vi. Both had been taught to her since before she could walk, and she'd grown up switching between the two based on who she talked to. At school, she always spoke Na'vi, unless they were learning English like today. At Hell's Gate, she spoke English, but she suspected that she was beginning to develop a slight accent. Since Mo'at had granted her passage to the village-- and she'd explained to Grace and René how worried the Tsahik had seemed to gain their approval-- she'd been basically living with the Na'vi, only seeing other Avatars during school. Although she felt a little guilty, her teachers didn't seem to fault her for it. In fact, René looked encouraging as he offered her a break.

"Yeah, thanks!" Liza set down her pen and waved. A chorus of "Bye"s followed her out the wasdoor, as she leapt off the steps and into the woods. After a few minutes of walking, she got an idea. She pursed her lips and blew a crystal-clear whistle into the trees, a one-note song she'd discovered Poppy could both understand and replicate. Sure enough, not thirty seconds later, her ikran came crashing through the brush. "Hey, girl!" Liza put a hand on her head. Poppy rumbled contentedly, pushing into Liza's palm. Liza connected their queues and mounted, projecting the word "up!" into Poppy's mind. For a moment, nothing happened. "Poppy?" Liza said aloud. No movement. "Pop--"

And they shot into the sky like a bullet.

Liza laughed, tightening her grip as they climbed higher, faster, until she could barely make out the forest below her. Go straight. They evened out, coasting on a breeze. Liza's hair whipped around her face, streaming out like ribbons. She should really start putting it in a braid, especially if she was going to continue her training.

The last week, apart from being spent in the Vayaha Village, had also been a crash course in Na'vi warrior culture. She wasn't much good at throwing a punch, but kicking seemed to come reasonably easy to her, and although a bow still felt awkward in her hands, she was quickly developing skills with a spear. She wasn't sure exactly what her friends were preparing for, but they seemed pretty convinced that war was coming. Liza hadn't spent any time at Hell's Gate lately, but she was debating going back, if only to see whether the mood had changed. Before she'd left, the researchers hadn't seemed off at all. Unobtainium was a stressor, as usual, but it wasn't like there was any shortage. As long as the miners kept at it, they'd probably keep finding small reserves in the ground, and their income would continue to flow in. However, if there were to be a war, it dawned on Liza, it would probably be over that substance. The Na'vi had a code they followed, called the Three Laws of Eywa, that dictated how they should not abuse Pandora. The first was "You shall not set stone upon stone", meaning that building structures out of stone, which was unsustainable, was prohibited. Humans had broken that rule the second they stepped onto this planet. The second rule, "Neither shall you use the turning wheel", meant that any technology involving wheels would only lead to more destruction-- like cars and highways, which had catalyzed global destruction back on Earth. Humans hadn't stooped as far down as to develop highways yet, and Liza didn't envision them engaging in such stupidity soon, but anything was possible. Lastly, "Nor use the metals of the ground" applied to unobtainium. However powerful the substance was, the Na'vi were forbidden from taking it from the ground. The fact that humans had completely disregarded this code and were now profiting from it... Liza could definitely envision that starting a war. It was a blatant violation of the Na'vi's morals, and destroyed any illusion of respect that the RDA bothered to uphold.