Clarity's Love (J.C's Avatar Fan Fic)

Chapter 7: Tree of Souls

I walked around the place we were in, completely bored out of my mind, I couldn’t wait to get back to my Na’vi body, I felt do free in it, I sighed, but it wasn’t my body, completely and truly at least.

I heard Grace and Jake talking about the Tree of Souls and how it was ‘their most sacred place’ and ‘no outsiders are allowed in’, I walked away from this and sat on my bed, everything was backwards now, I felt like this body was a part of a dream and the other body was a part of reality.

*~*~*                             

Today, Tsu’tey let me have some time with Jake and Neytiri. We were peacefully flying on our Banshee when we were cloaked by a very large shadow,

“Dive!” I heard Jake yell,

Once I had put Nix into a dive I looked behind me, a Great Leonopteryx was flying after us, I urged Nix to go faster, It was snapping its jaws and screaming at us, it had to be at least three times bigger than Nix! We broke through the forest canopy and swerved around anything, trying to lost the red, yellow, black and blue beast, in the end it couldn’t get through a curtain of vines that we could get through, at this point it gave up the hunt and flew away, Jake and Neytiri sat on their Banshee’s laughing, I sat there on the side of a tree trying to slow my heartbeat down and get it back to normal.

*~*~*

Back at Hometree I told Tsu’tey about Jake Neytiri and I being chased by the overgrown Banshee, he ended up telling me the story of his grandfather’s grandfather, Toruk Mucto—Rider of Last Shadow.

*~*~*

I was stuck doing the video log, again, to be honest I’ve missed more than a few of them, and when I do get to them and do them I tell it very meagre information, then look at the lens and go through the day and think about it, or I just look at it and stare into space.

*~*~*

We were back at base, or whatever they called, but, where we started from, I was walking around trying to find Jake, I can’t remember the last time I had a decent conversation with him.

I saw Jake in a room with windows looking out to a fence miles away, he was talking to a guy, whose body was covered in scars,

“…Plenty of usable intel on this, Tree of Souls, place—I’ve got them by the balls with that, when it turns into a shit-fight, which it will,” he continued, “You’ll get your legs back, like I promised,”

I felt tears in my eyes as I continued to listen to their conversation,

“I’ve gotta’ finish this, there’s one more thing, the ceremony, it’s the final stage to becoming a man, if I do it I’m one of them, they’ll trust me and I can negotiate the terms of their relocation,” Jake said, I felt sick,

There was a silence and I heard someone get up,

“Well then you better get it done, corporal,” I heard the other man say,

  Then I walked away, I felt so sick in the stomach, punching the lights out of Jake didn’t even seem like something I wanted to do right now.

*~*~*

Jake was getting ready for the ceremony, I was next after this, Neytiri was helping him, and I had chosen Tsu’tey to help me. He came out; he was painted in a white substance which was put into patterns,

“You are now a son of the Omaticaya. You are part of The People,” Eytukan said,

They clan gathered around and placed their hands on him or a person of the clan, I even saw Grace tear up a bit, but I had dread settling in the pit of my stomach.

*~*~*

Once the ceremony had finished, including mine, Tsu’tey recommended that I should do something fun.

“Like what?” I asked,

“Something! Spend your first night, as a true Omaticaya, doing something fun,” he replied,

“Okay, let’s go out and you can teach me the rules to what happens after the Ceremony,” I said and led him outside.

*~*~*

Tsu’tey was leading me away from Hometree, we swum in rivers, chased each other and had a great time.

I was so busy catching up to Tsu’tey, I didn’t take in the sights until we stopped, we were surrounded by pale pink  and blue tendrils, they seemed attracted to us, light a moth to light,

“They call this tree the Tree of Voices, you can hear them,” Tsu’tey said quietly,

He attached the end of his hair to a few of the tendrils; I caught a few tendrils of the tree and copied him.

I felt my eyes go wide, I could hear voices, and they were singing and talking,

“This is where prayers are said and sometimes answered,”

“They live?” I asked Tsu’tey, completely amazed,

“Within of Eywa they do,” he smiled, then turned away, “a man may also choose you, you must also choose him too. The boys I trained, they talked about choosing you and hoping that you would choose them,”

“They seem a little young for me, they would be better off with partners their own age, or close enough,” I said,

I walked up to Tsu’tey, he faced me,

“Who are you going to choose?” I questioned,

“The woman I wish for was badly wounded when I first saw her, she also didn’t like to wear our clothes,” he said, “But now, that woman has healed and is one of the Omaticaya. I still don’t know if she would choose me, she keeps her feelings hidden well,”

“Ask her, I’m sure she’ll say yes,” I said and shuffled closer,

He stroked my cheek, for someone who looks so harsh, he gentle, his face moved closer to mine, all of a sudden our lips met, I’ll leave it at that, I’m sure you know what happened next…