First Flight

Chapter 6 Mission Statement

Just as Y/n expected the morning after all anyone on the team could talk about was the near-death experience she and Jake went through the day before. Now that their avatars were safe it was funny to talk about and hear the point of view from both Grace and Norman. They went on and on about how scared shitless they were from the moment the Thanator showed up, which was the panther-like creature the two had been running from. Y/n also made sure to do a short class with Grace on the different creatures she had encountered or needed to know about now that she was going to be staying with the Omatikaya clan for a while. Being up to date a thorough with her knowledge of not only the Na'vi but also the forest and everything that inhabited it was going to be much more of a priority now. Y/n was absolutely not going to get into any trouble like that ever again.

After breakfast, Y/n joined Grace in the lab to go through that little class session. Where she also learned about all the important figures in the clan.

"Ok, so Eytukan and Mo'at are like....the king and queen? And Neytiri is the princess?" Y/n uttered as she spun in the desk chair beside Dr. Augustine's desk.

"No, they aren't a King and Queen their ruling system is much different than that. It's more like they are the Father and Mother of the people, like leaders of a big family. Yes, they have a final say on what goes and what doesn't but it's a community, everyone relies on each other to help out the family." Grace explained as she lightly chuckled, she was working on some sort of DNA test she had gotten yesterday in the field expedition.

"Right.....ok, yeah simple enough...." nodding her head along while she watched Grace Y/n paused for a moment while she thought on what she had just learned until a thought crossed her mind. "Wait....it's not like....they have thoroughbred stuff in the clan, right? Like... marrying cousins or....siblings to keep the bloodline pure?" The girl blurted suddenly somewhat worried about Neytiri marrying her own brother. After learning about the soon-to-be coupling of Neytiri and Tsu'tey she couldn't help but to assume. The guy did have the ego of a prince after all.

That's when Grace completely stopped her work and turned around slowly with the most confused face Y/n had ever seen on the woman, then burst out with a laugh "Where did you get that from? No, they don't do that. And they don't marry one another, they mate, for life. Have you actually been reading those books I gave you?"

"Oh....well that's good, but still that sucks for Neytiri, that guy is a total ass. I mean really if he's not even their son where's he get all of that sass from? Couldn't they have chosen a different future leader? I mean how does that work? I read something about being a good warrior, hunter, or something like that but I don't really understand it." Y/n asked as she was genuinely curious as to how it worked. Cause there's no way Neytiri actually likes the guy she was supposed to mate with, Y/n could see it from a mile away. So what was the deal?

"The current Olo'eyktan is the one that chooses the next leader, and how it's done is exactly what you just said. It's someone who has shown amazing skill in hunting and combat, but it's not only those skills. Being the Leader means uniting the people and caring for them like a father would, though a few years back he did have some trouble connecting with and understanding the people, the boy was a hot mess just a total rebellious kid...." Grace suddenly hit a lull in her story, again her eyes were off far somewhere in the distance. "He was a good student, truly."

"It was your school he went to then...the one I heard about before coming here," Y/n mentioned in a quiet voice not wanting to spook the woman out of the conversation just yet. "I'm guessing that's where Neytiri learned English too? And Mo'at and Eytukan?"

"Neytiri and Tsu'tey yes, but Mo'at and Eytukan no. The school was just for the children, the Na'vi already knew some English before I was introduced to the village, I just helped with integrating our people. You know they were one of the first clans we came into contact with when we got here? They were also the first clan to welcome us into their village, actually, they were the only clan to welcome us in." The woman's voice was filled with something indescribable, it was like she was reminiscing on happy memories but saddened by them all at once.

"Grace, what happened to the school?" She didn't want to beat around the bush any longer. Grace was devastated at the school closing, but it wasn't just the school closing that had her acting like this.

There was a tense sigh from the older woman as she ran a hand over her face then up through her hair, then a long silence. Y/n was sure at that moment that she had crossed over the line, maybe it was too soon to bring up the school, or maybe she wasn't as close with Grace as she originally thought she was. "I came here to learn and research the plants of pandora, I was like you. I wanted to help people, I wanted to learn, and I did, but I also became so enamored by the Omatikaya. I felt so connected to them and I wanted all of us to get along, and coexist. After some time with the people, I suggested a school be built so that we could all learn from each other, and they agreed, the children were so excited. Neytiri and her sister Sylwanin had to be the most excited out of them all for the school to be built...they were my brightest students." Grace went back to whatever DNA research she was working on but continued her story. "After a few years, the RDA began taking too much from the forest and the Omatikaya. Sylwanin was old enough to see the devastation for what it really was and decided to protest against the RDA, she was so...angry. So she stopped coming to school, and one day she and a few other of my students set a bulldozer on fire but they were chased through the forest. They were scared and ran back to the school, thinking I could protect them..." There was a crack in the woman's voice, "Sylwanin was shot before she could even step a foot through the front door. Many of my students were killed that day as well, I saved as many as I could. Then, the school was closed, myself and everyone else from the RDA were banished from the clan."

The air in the lab was as still as a graveyard, silence filled every inch between them, and Y/n was suffocated by it. She didn't know what to say, the devastation that happened not only to Grace but to the clan as well. "Grace, I'm so sorry," Y/n muttered her head hanging low as an ache grew in her chest. It was a senseless slaughter of innocent children. Whether or not a bulldozer was set on fire they were still children, and Y/n couldn't stop thinking about it, even when she got up to leave the lab after chatting with Grace for while. Now it was time to head back to that clan and learn from them, how could Y/n act normal now after hearing that tragic story?