Starting New

Chapter 3

I stared up into the sky for a few moments. I seemed to be lost. I admired the large, swirling colors in the sky that made up the planet that Pandora circled.

“You okay, there?” Jake said.

I felt the tendrils that had been attached to my body and braid slowly retract and I lifted up a shaky hand. It shook lightly and I traced the blue lines and saw the darker area where the IV had been attached to my arm.

“Norm?”

“Give him a moment, Jake,” Mo’at suggested, kneeling slightly to put a hand on his shoulder, “You were the same way. It is a big change.”

I continued tracing the lines up to my arm. I put one arm behind me and somehow managed to push myself up into a sitting position. I groaned slightly, feeling my head spin and looked out into the eager crowd. I swayed a bit; overwhelmed by the number of people and the sudden change that gravity seemed to have on me.

“It worked,” I whispered, turning back to look at Jake, “It worked!”

Jake grinned, showing off sharp white teeth and nodded, “Yes it worked! Here, let me help you up.”

He put out a large hand and my hand didn’t seem so small anymore. I placed my palm into his and he pulled me up. I put an arm out to steady my balance. I hadn’t been in my avatar body for so long. Every movement felt a little off. I could already tell that this avatar body needed rest…rest and food. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, this was no avatar body, this was my body. I was an avatar no more.

With that thought I glanced down to the ground to see my human body lay motionless. It seemed so white, so pale compared to my solid, tall, blue body. Someone had taken the breathing mask off and I looked at what was left of it and I took an unsteady breath. Jake took a step to the side, blocking the view of my human body.

“It’s alright,” He said, pursing his lips and placing his palm against my chest, “That is your old body. This is your new body.”

I nodded once and tried to control my breathing. The ground had turned quiet and Mo’at thanked the people for coming. I nodded and gave an awkward little wave of thanks. The people dispersed and I rubbed a hand across my face.

“Your very tired, Normspellman,” Mo’at said, touching my arm, “You should sleep now.”

She was right. I felt exhausted. I felt like I hadn’t slept for days, even though my avatar...my body, had slept for days on end.

Jake nodded, “Let’s get you somewhere to sleep and…a loincloth.”

I looked down and turned a darker shade of blue in my cheeks. Jake just grinned at me and waved a hand. I started after him, but he was so fast.

“Slow down Jake,” I said, struggling to keep up. I was just so tired.

“Sorry. I’m used to moving fast all the time.”

He put a hand on my elbow for support and we walked over a few huge branches, some as large as tree trunks, to where we would sleep, “This is my hammock. That will be yours.”

I looked to the side and saw one nearby, suspended off the large branch. Jake effortlessly jumped down and climbed into his, curling his legs up and looking at me from below the tree. I hesitated, before jumping down, almost completely missing the hammock and holding on desperately for dear life. Jake wasn’t much help and just laughed as I swung violently several hundred yards above the ground.

“You’re no help,” I muttered.

“Sorry,” He said, calming down, but still smiling, “It’s just that I did the exact same thing my first time.”

I lay there for a moment and then felt something light land on my head. I twitched and pulled off a leather cloth from my head. It was a loincloth. I turned slightly to see Jake just smiling widely at me. I pushed myself deeper into the hammock, preying he wasn’t watching and removed the vine from across my lower body. I quickly pulled the loincloth on and had to put my hand backwards to pull out my tail.

“I’m glad everything turned out alright,” Jake said, turning and facing me.

I pushed myself sideways on the hammock and took a moment or two to regain balance, “What will happen to my human body?”

“They will bury it with mine and with Grace’s. There’s a Na’vi cemetery on the south end of the Hometree,” He said, his long fingers tinkering with the fabric that he was suspended on, “They will have the ceremony tomorrow.”

“Seems so strange—like I died,” I murmured.

“Mo’at calls it a rebirth, not a death. You have been reborn,” He explained.

We were quiet for a moment, listening to the unusual sounds of insects in the night.

“What happened to Neytiri, Jake?”

He sighed and his expression changed. His large, yellow eyes landed on me, “We thought she was fine. She came back from the battle fine with only a few cuts and scrapes. A day later she developed this large bruise on her stomach. The warriors called it a battle scar and laughed it off. I, however, wasn’t so convinced. She seemed tired and it took her longer to keep up. By the third day, she was very sick, throwing up, blood in her bowels—the whole nine yards. Mo’at tried to heal her, but it wasn’t enough.”

“What was it? Internal bleeding?” I asked.

Jake nodded, “Most likely. I brought up to council that we should bring the human doctors in to try and do something for her. I was getting desperate. I couldn’t just let her die. She wasn’t at all like herself. She was tired and couldn’t keep food down. She was very weak. Mo’at refused to have human doctors look at her. I even suggested that you could come—in your avatar body to take a look at her. I just wanted someone to look at her. Mo’at refused.”

He paused and turned to lay on his back. I thought he was finished with the story, but he continues.

“She blames herself for Neytiri’s death. I know she does. She was just as shocked as I was. One morning we found that Neytiri had passed away in her sleep. Mo’at feels guilty. She could have had you look at her. She could still be with us today.”

“Jake, I’m sure-”

He interrupted me, “That’s why she wanted you to join the tribe. She says she saw a sign, but I think it was just that she felt guilty. She thinks that bringing you into the tribe will help balance out what we lost. I think she hopes that if someone else gets hurt or sick, that you might be able to save them this time around.”

“Those are big shoes to fill,” I said, shaking my head, “And it’s not Mo’at’s fault that Neytiri died.”

“I know, and I can’t really blame her for hoping that things will improve with you as a doctor of sorts,” Jake said and I saw that his eyes were closed, “Goodnight Norm. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“’Night Jake,” I responded and paused before adding, “And thank you for doing this.”

“I don’t know what Mo’at saw, if it was anything at all, but I do have a feeling that you made the right decision. I think it’ll all work out. It’s for the best,” Jake said.

I chewed on my lip and looked up. There were other hammocks littering the sky above and below me. I could hear the rest of the people settling in for the evening. I closed my eyes again and was almost asleep when I felt something tickling my nose. I opened my eyes, startled and looked right at a seed from the Tree of Soul’s that was glowing white in the dark night. I opened my mouth slightly, in awe of the beauty of it. I turned my head, ready to tell Jake what I had seen, but he was fast asleep, his breath coming deeply and steadily.

When I looked back, it was gone.