Starting New

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Chapter 11



Similar circumstance? I wasn’t sure if there was a language barrier or if what he said was true. Yet, how could there possibly be any circumstance similar to ours? I raised my eyebrow in disbelief and glanced at Jake, who just shrugged. He seemed to be relieved to hear about these similar circumstances.



“I am Han,” The Na’vi said and bowed slightly.



Jake and I exchanged another odd look and Jake nodded his head, “I am Jake and this is Norm.”



Han turned slightly and waved the woman over. She seemed reluctant about meeting us and crossed her arms across her chest.



“This is Dierdy, my mate.”



And again I wondered how we were of similar circumstance. Han seemed to understand my sudden confusion and waved slightly.



“Dierdy speaks no Omaticaya. I only speak. Dierdy is pregnant, but the child no mine. The child a hunter’s. They intend before, but Dierdy no willing to mate with him. He force her,” He spat.



Han was difficult to understand, but I did get one thing out of it. Rape in the Na’vi was practically unheard of. If Dierdy had been unwilling to accept a proposal, then the mating should not have happened. I tried to understand what he meant. He said she was pregnant. I looked at her and could see a slightly swollen outline on the normally otherwise thin stomach. She wasn’t far along and was just beginning to show. I wondered how a mating like this could even happen.



“They no mate before Eywa. I help her. We mate before Eywa. Hunter no like. Hunter try to hurt Dierdy. No one care. So, we run away from there. We run and run. We eat and run. We live everywhere,” He said, sweeping his hand over the forest.



They sounded a bit like nomads, constantly moving around and eating whatever they could find. It must be an extremely tough life.



“And the two of you are…alone?” Jake asked, cautious in his statement but obviously still uneasy.



“Yes and you?”



“Yes.”



“What you look for, Jake,” Han asked, putting unusual emphasis on Jake’s name.



“What are we looking for?” Jake asked as a confirmation. Han nodded, the trinkets in his hair chiming, and Jake continued “We are looking for a clan who will accept us for who we are. We cannot go back to the Omaticaya. It is too dangerous.”



“Dangerous,” He said, nodding, placing a hand near his mouth and nodded, “Yes. We, too, look for safe place. They try kill you?”



I nodded once, “They probably would have if they had the opportunity. One of the warriors wanted revenge.”



“That sad.”



I just nodded again, unsure about what to say to these strange new Na’vi. Han looked around at where we were, noticing we had nothing with us. He looked Jake over once and then me over again. He probably couldn’t help but notice the wounds we both had, especially Jake’s which were more prominent than mine. Han looked at the ground and picked up the fruit I had dropped only minutes before. I nodded once in acceptance and handed one to Jake. I wasn’t sure if we should just all relax and eat or if maybe I should keep up a guard around these Na’vi. They were still very much strangers.



“Your tribe far away?” Han asked.



Jake faltered, knowing he would give away much more information if he said yes. He looked to me for guidance and I just shrugged. We didn’t have much else to lose.



“Yes.”



“How…how you get here? There no tribe here.”



“Ikran,” He lied smoothly.



Han seemed to accept the answer. Jake and I ended up sitting again on the rock and eating from the fruit. I found out that I had indeed been very hungry. Han asked us where we had found the fruit and he went to find some for him and his mate. Dierdy studied us openly and watched us eat. She stood nearby at a tree and didn’t seem at all fearful to be in our presence. She reminded me of Neytiri.



I was more than surprised when Han came back with some fruit and settled next to me on the rock. I stopped eating and looked over at him. He didn’t seem to notice my hesitation. I ended up scooting over to Jake shyly and let my thigh rest against his own. Han continued to eat his fruit loudly, not caring much about manners.



“How long you be here?” Han asked, wiping his dripping mouth against his arm and looking at me.



“Just overnight.”



“Your tribe try find you?”



“I’m sure they’re looking for us. Hopefully they’ll give up eventually. They were the ones who exiled us, anyway. I don’t really know why they would even bother looking for us.”



“Revenge,” Jake added, taking another bite and sighing, “We’re not sure what to do from here. We don’t have any supplies or anything.”



“You come with us,” Han said firmly, gesturing Dierdy over.



“With you?”



Han nodded and stood up, pacing around the small encampment, “Yes. We travel together. We find safe place.”



“Do you think there is such a place? A tribe that would accept us? One that would accept the two of you, even though she carries another man’s child?” Jake asked, shaking his head, “I’ve never heard of such place.”



“There be one,” Han said nodding deeply and his golden eyes looking upon one, “I sure. We find it.”



Jake looked over at me and whispered quickly in Omaticayan, still wary of using English in front of these people. We didn’t know if they knew anything about dreamwalkers or even about humans in general. We decided to avoid that conversation all together. I’m sure it would have been easier to just use English. No Na’vi knew English unless they were taught the language.



“I don’t think we have much choice. What else is there for us?” Jake said.



“I don’t know.”



Later that evening, Han lit a fire with some flint and the four of us gathered around it. I was unsure if lighting a fire was the right thing to do. First of all, we were in the forest. I was worried the trees might catch fire. But, we seemed to be close enough to the ground so it never happened. I was also worried that the tribe might be looking for us and spot our fire. Jake said they didn’t ride Ikran at night. That didn’t mean that they didn’t ride Pa’li. We could still be spotted. Or maybe I was just paranoid.



We talked for a while and eventually Dierdy and Han went to sleep. Dierdy fell asleep first with her hand safely resting on top of her knife for easy access. Han lay on the ground and pulled her close. He seemed friendly enough, but I know he didn’t trust us. His eyes stayed open for a while and I was sure he would be up in an instant, if attacked. I looked at Jake in the darkness and placed my hand on his thigh after Han finally closed his eyes.



“What are you thinking?” I whispered in English.



“That we shouldn’t be speaking that language,” Jake said quickly in Omaticayan.



I sighed and put an arm around his back. He cleared his throat, looked over at the sleeping couple and allowed the close contact.



“Your wound looks better,” I commented.



“You’re a good doctor,” He said and looked around, noting the calmness of the forest, “It will be cold tonight.”



I nodded, not answering. I felt his lips on mine a second later and I looked up in surprise. He pecked me again and settled back onto the rock. Jake stretched widely and yawned.



“I’m going to sleep,” He said and slid off the boulder.



I followed him to where he curled up under a nearby tree. It was close enough to the fire to stay warm, but not close enough to worry about embers settling around us. He wrapped both arms around me and laid his head on my shoulder. Jake rubbed my back tentatively and reached down to his leg, where he carried a small knife. He pressed his hunting knife into my hand and held it there momentarily.



“Just in case,” He said softly.



“What about you?”



“I have an extra.”



Jake’s eyes closed after a short while. I put one of my legs between his and tried to curl into his body as much as possible. The temperature was dropping steadily and being on the cool ground did nothing to block the cold. I let his body heat warm me and prayed we wouldn’t be killed tonight in our sleep.