Dreamwalker of the Eastern Sea

|"Brother Kahiau- I got paint in my hair." |

English

Na'vi

------------------------------------------------------

After the incident with Norm, Faho had disappeared out of sight until the next day where he was found sitting on a large root on the opposite side of the opening of home tree- head down, ears flat with Olivia's bow in his hands. "I see you found my bow- was wondering where it had gone off to yesterday." Olivia walked along a fee roots until she stood on the same one that her sulking student was on. "I went back to apologize to Velia for shooting the dream walker and saw it lying on the ground where I dropped it. I am sorry for not returning it- I... I was to ashamed to face you." Faho shied away from his teacher as she sat down beside him. "It was an accident, Faho. You should not be ashamed of an accident." Even with her attempt to dissuade the boy from further beating himself up- Faho could not change his mind nor his feelings.

"But I am! Everyone saw- and now- now they will look down on me. They will think I will never make it to Iknimaya, never tame an ikran, never become a good warrior. I will be an outcast- a failure all because I cannot shoot a bow." Olivia sat quietly and let the boy air out his frustrations and when she though he was done, she spoke. "If anyone is a failure it is your teachers. Tsu'tey and I have failed you because we have let our anger get the best of us. We are a team, not rivals. And for that, I am sorry Faho for not properly teaching you."

It was odd for the warrior-in-training to hear the exact same words that his older sister once told him- come from a completely different person. To him, it was as if she was reaching out to him. "When I was younger- still to little to start training, my sister would secretly take me out a far enough distance from home tree and teach me how to shoot with the children's bow except I was to young to use real arrows and instead swapped them for twigs. And after I grew bored of that, she would take me on small rides on her pa'li- Xesa. Our parents weren't so happy when they found out, but never stopped us for it made me happy to experience what I would one day do on my own. And my sister- she wanted me to grow into someone who would be proud of their accomplishments. You remind me of her- selfless and always taking the blame no matter what it was for." Olivia felt touched at his confession but that didn't cover up the obvious 'elephant in the room'. The way he spoke- the tone in his voice as he recalled the times with his sister was an indication that she wasn't around anymore.

"Where is your sister now, Faho?"

"She is with Eywa- running with the many pa'li like she loved to do. Sometimes when I close my eyes to sleep at night, I can see her smiling face and I know- I know she is happy. And that makes me happy." Faho looked down at the bow in his hands with a faint smile. Olivia placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, which much like his sisters was warm on his skin. Of course, it did make him a bit tense since physical contact wasn't really a norm between teacher and student unless it was to correct a stance or position. But he knew, she meant no harm and was only giving him solace the way dream walkers did. "How long has it been since her passing?"

"She died in the fall of our old home tree."

---

Olivia needed to speak to Tsu'tey and for some odd reason he was harder to find that day. After the slightly morbid talk with Faho (which Olivia could have done without but she pushed the topic so she is partly to blame) the former dream walker felt that coming to some civil terms with the warrior would be the only solution for their students success. She didn't really understand why she felt the urgency in making the rational decision (maybe out of guilt for screwing up his first attempt at getting closer to Iknimaya or possibly the fact that he saw his sister in her and that made her feel obligated to see him thrive) but whatever the reasoning was- she was going to make it happen.