Eywa'itan

8 | Journey to AyVitrayä Ramunong

The Well of Souls is a deep caldera, a hollow space hundreds of meters across. It is ringed with enormous willows alight with life as their roots pour down the sheer rock walls like the wax of a burning candle. At its base sat a natural amphitheater, where the Omaticaya cluster around the centralmost rock that acts as an altar.

Light flows inward towards it, lighting a single willow, the Mother Tree. It was massive, ancient, and revered, gnarled as it grew in the center of the rock. Its mighty roots spread down the floor, merging with the others in a braided mat.

Neyn'inan had never been somewhere like this before.

AyVitrayä Ramunong is a place where Eywa's heartbeat is clear. It is loud and strong, and he feels it through the ground. He breathes in the scent of its branches and feels the tether of its roots. This profoundness seeps into the air, and the Omaticaya sing their songs of mourning and prayer. Their queues connect to each root as their hands reach for each other, and they sway in unison to the heartbeat's every drum.

It was the first instance that Neyn'inan had ever encountered where he wasn't the only one who could feel it. Everyone could feel her here, and that is what brought them comfort.

But he was the only one who could hear her singing with them. His adept ears picked up on the unique sound easily. Her voice was a bass, it was a melody. It filled the empty spaces in their song, resonating everywhere as she tried her best to give her children the solace they sought. Her presence was everywhere.

It was as if he could hear her breathing. He was surrounded by the Great Mother. Seeking the same comfort, he intently listened. Since the moment they left the remains of Hometree, he'd been doing nothing but listening.

His young mind was an ocean of confusion, anger, and betrayal. The places he would normally go were tainted with scents he wanted nothing to do with. He can't be near his mother. He felt he would lash out if he was, because she was mated to Jake now.

He desperately sought guidance as he used to. He'd stay by the roots of passing trees and sleep in canopies as he used to do. The familiarity of the forest brought him enough comfort to just barely keep sane. But just barely.

He knew he was not safe to be around, so he stayed away from his family. Any attempt to form words only came out as a hiss, worse than when he'd first woken up to the Omaticaya. The regression to his quiet self protected him, in a way.

Being loud and clumsy in the wild would get one eaten.

Passingly, his thoughts went to Jake. The one who lied. The one he wrongly trusted. The one he thought was strong enough to protect his mother's heart now. As long as Neytiri had Jake's scent, he could not stand to be close to her. And that hurt.

Neytiri was his mama. He loved her. He wanted to hug her and cry. But he could not bring himself to be closer than hearing distance because of his scent. He could not stand to be near any of them due to their scent.

Jake was a traitor. Kavuk. Neytiri had his scent on her forever. Mo'at had the scent of Eytukan, and he was gone. Eytukan was dead, he had disappeared from his senses. Tsu'tey scent was what he familiarized as 'home', similar to Neytiri. But Hometree was no more. It was destroyed by vrrtep.

His adoptive father had to protect the rest, often in flight with his Ikran and leading the other warriors. Effectively, he was Ole'eyktan now. He had to lead the people with Mo'at to safety, even if he desperately wanted to check on Neyn. He was not near enough to go to him, and when he was, Neyn couldn't bring himself to come forward.

Mo'at was their spiritual leader. In this time of sorrow, she was the one they turned to for guidance. She was their lead healer for the wounded, and she knew the safest way to AyVitrayä Ramunong.