Puvomun Ayzìsìt Mawkrr

AN: Yay another chapter. It's a little slow in coming because I lost my internet for a couple days.

Canderus: I got my resources from learnnavi.org but I did all the translating myself. But they have a work book and dictionaries and such which are really nice.

Now on to the story...

*******

“You learn fast” Winuk said as they sat in a tree looking down at a herd of sturmbeast.



“I already know much of what you're taught me” Jessi said. “My father's father taught me.”



“He taught you to hunt?” Winuk asked.



Jessi nodded. “There aren't many animals to actually hunt on Earth but we have places where you can practice and my grandfather made sure I knew how to shoot a bow. I just need to learn the draw of Na'vi bows.”



“He taught you well” Winuk said. “I think you're ready to find your palulukan.”

*********



“You spend all your time with them” Cody said as they walked down the hall. “You barely pay attention to the security. Powell is saying he's gonna put me in charge. Over you.”



“What so you can tell me to bring my Avatar back here?” Jessi asked. “Even if Powell put you over me, you'd still look to me for direction. You've done it for too long. Powell just needs to know that the Na'vi won't attack them.”



“How do we know that?” Cody asked. “They watch us all the time. How are our people supposed to know what might make them attack when the expert on these people spends all of her time playing in the jungle?”



“Like I said when we landed” Jessi said as they approached the command center. “Kill anything if you don't have to. Don't destroy any more of the forest then necessary. Do not destroy sacred sites. Beyond that, they'll just spend their time watching. I can explain that to everyone. Again. If Powell thinks that needs to be done. Again. Because no one seems to listen the first time.”



“Ahh. You're awake” a slimy male voice said as they stepped into the command center.



“I am here” Jessi said as she looked over the room. “I thought I told your boss that I would be in charge here. Yet I'm being told you're talking about changing up the command order.”



“You aren't here doing your job” Powell said. He was, in a word, a geek. He was the little rat the bigger kids would beat up on the playground at school. The one who always ended up in lockers and receiving swirlies. The one that became a sadistic prick when he gained more power and more powerful buddies, and thinks he can get away with anything.



“My job is to make sure the locals don't cause problems like they did for the last group” Jessi said with a scowl at the rat. “If I spend my day in the forest learning their ways better, it means I have an advantage if problems arise because I know how they fight and with what. If I spend my day with them, they think I'm committed to keeping peace between them and us.”



“So what have you learned?” Powell asked.



“That they aren't stupid for all the RDA thinks of their lack of technology. Anything about their tactics, you don't need to know. My security teams will be privy to that information if that information is needed.”



“Why not share it with everyone now?” Powell asked.



Jessi turned to Cody. “Do you think the Na'vi will attack any time soon?”



“No” Cody said in a flat tone. Jessi saw his eyes flash with laughter. He knew what she was doing.



“Do you think they'll attack at all?”



“No.”



“Should I fill your head with information that won't do you any good right now?”



“No.”



“You rehearsed this little farse” Powell said in a tone bordering on whining.



“It took me three minutes to come from the link room” Jessi said. “The only thing Cody did was tell me I was neglecting my job, in a much better tone, and that you were thinking about changing the chain of command.”



Cody cracked a grin. “That's a variant of her spiel for dumb ass corporate idiots who think they can tell her what to do. She's in charge for a reason and even if you put it on paper that I'm above her in command, I'd still listen to her so I'd just go sit in your office and push papers like a good little corporate monkey, if I were you.”



Powell looked like he wanted to say something but with a small room full of people directing the operations of the base and two members of the security team able to kick him into next week without blinking, he did as Cody suggested. He went to his office, closed the door and sat behind his desk.



Jessi led the way back out of the command center.



“Are you going to tell us how the Na'vi fight?” Cody asked as the headed for the mess hall.



“It's really basic stuff from what I've seen” Jessi said. “Bows and arrows. Knives. I'm sure their Thanator figure into their fighting some how but some stuff they don't teach until it's applicable.”



“Don't some fly on the banshee?” Cody asked.



“Not this clan” Jessi said as she grabbed a tray and started loading it with food. “As far as I've seen. Their creature is the thanator. Some clans use the dire horse. Some the banshee. But I'm pretty sure this is the only clan that uses the thanator.”



“Good to know” Cody said as they sat down at the table occupied by the security team leaders.

**********

“Palulukan is different from the Ikran and the Pali” Winuk said as they lay in their hammocks. He was taking Jessi on a round of the Palulukan dens to see if one of the older cubs would accept her. “While pali might prefer one rider over another, anyone can ride a given pali. Ikran tries to kill their chosen rider when they choose. Palulukan will try to kill you if it doesn't want you.”



“So how to I find the one that won't kill me?” Jessi asked.



“That's your choice” Winuk said. He was proud of how quick she was to train. It helped that someone else had laid a very good ground for her to build upon. “Some fight through the ones that attack. Some just sit there and figure if Eywa wants them, she'll take them.”



“I take it that's what happened to Tingut” Jessi said.



“Yes, he just sat there. Not much can be done for him except to wait for Eywa to take him.”



“So what I can fight the ones that attack or sit there and let them chomp on me” Jessi said.



“You might get lucky” Winuk said. “Some of the Palulukan pick right away and will fight the others off if they're in a particularly vicious mood.”



“I think I'll put up some kind of fight” Jessi said. “I'd rather not become a Palulukan's dinner by mistake.”



Winuk couldn't help but laugh.



“What do you look like in your other body?” Winuk asked. “You said when you sleep here, you are awake else where.”



“You've seen the Sky People at the base?” Jessi asked, looking over at Winuk. He nodded.



“I have a body like that, too. It's how I stay in contact with them while I'm out here learning. I have to make sure they don't harm the forest or the creatures of Eywa.”



“Once you have your Palulukan, Sìlng will begin the preparations for your Dream Hunt.”



“What is it like?” Jessi asked. “The Dream Hunt.”



“It's very confusing” Winuk said. “Mine moved so quick to me that I only got small impressions. Sìlng said I dreamed of strange animals, animals not of our world. They had four legs instead of six. Big creatures that reminded me of syaksyuk. Palulukan with lighter fur or striped fur. Talioang with two horns roaming in great herds moving across green plains. Beautiful Pali in so many colors. Oddly enough a nantang ran beside me while something like an ikranay landed on my arm like a Riti would.”



Jessi was silent as Winuk spoke.



“Sìlng said things would become clear as time passed” Winuk said. “After she told me what my dream was.”



“Describe the syaksyuk” Jessi said.



“It looked powerful, covered in black fur. It walked on the ground.”



“A gorilla” Jessi said.



Winuk turned to look at her. “You know what I saw?”



“They sound like animals that used to live on Earth. A gorilla, though I tend to think of syaksyuk as something similar to a capuchin monkey. Lions and tigers, they only live in the few zoos left on Earth. Buffalo, they were nearly wiped out when the Europeans gave guns to the Native Americans. And horses, my grandfather said they were so much fun to ride but they're gone too.



“The wolf, my grandfather told me no creature was more loyal than a wolf fed from a loving hand. And the eagle, free and majestic. To wear their feather was the sign of a true warrior among my grandfather's people.”



“Why would I dream of Earth animals?” Winuk asked.



“I don't know” Jessi said. “But you did and it has to mean something. Eywa will let you know what some day.”

********

For those that don't have the rather handy Avatar survivalist guide (which has all the flora and fauna of Pandora in it) here are the animals named:

Syaksyuk- Prolemeris (the little blue monkeys Grance told Jake were not aggresive.)

Palulukan- Thanator (If you don't know this one, you didn't watch Jake jump off a cliff to escape one.)

Talioang- Sturmbeast (Basically the cows of Pandora)

Pali- Direhorse (Again a no-brainer if you watched the movie)

Nantang- viperwolf (The creatures Naytiri saved Jake from)

Ikranay- Forest Banshee (smaller banshee that live in the forests of Pandora as opposed to the Mountain Banshee riden by the Na'vi)

Riti- Stingbat (Little idiot predators that spawn like rabbits, which is a good thing since they'd probably die out rather quickly otherwise. The Na'vi keep them as pets.)

Feel free to leave a review if you have any questions.

 

Eywa ngahu (Eywa be with you ^_^)