Dreamwalker

Chapter Seven

Rol'ei pulled away from the inert body the moment he felt the spirit leave. Uneasiness settled into his stomach. He felt as though he were being gripped by a dead thing.

Ratche let out a sleepy, questioning twill. He cooed to her, offering reassurance he didn't have in his heart.

In the not-quite-dark of the night, he chose a rock near-by, easing back to rest his thigh and watch.

Ted's body barely moved in sleep. Deep, like a child. He breathed, his eyelids twitched, his hands and toes even clenched on occasion. Each night he spent near the dreamwalker, the strangeness of it built upon itself.

When Rol'ei was a child himself, the singer in his clan would stare at the very young as they slept. The Great Singer tried to remember her reasoning. The old woman has been strange, her mind often disconnected from the rest of the people. Years ago, she'd made sense to his younger self... she thought that the people walked in their minds, that children walked with Eywa during their sleep in ways adults no longer could without herb, drink, or venom.

Did Ted walk with Eywa now? Did this body have a spirit of its own? What of his tawtute body? Did it dream? Perhaps when the tawtute body dreamed, he walked with the people? Dreamwalker. Demon. Empty shell. A thousand words shuffled through his mind.

A firm hand fell on his shoulder, bringing his thoughts crashing against a cliff, abruptly his mind on the shore of a stormy sea.

“Great Singer, I see you.”

Torukmakto! His story! I must ask him everything! I should seek out Neytiri and ask about falling in... do dreamwalker, Sky People, males mate with one another? How do dreamwalkers mate? Had they already... Torukmakto is certainly impressive up close... the breadth of those shoulders alone...

Rol'ei blinked up at Torukmakto a moment before he could collect the shattered shells of his thoughts.

“I see you, Torukmakto,” Rol'ei said, trying to quiet his mind. “It is an honor to meet you.”

“Please, call me Jake,” the once dreamwalker said. What to call a dreamwalker who had given up the tawtute body; one who has woken? “Toruk has flown to his own life. It is strange to see one of the people up so late,” Jake said, obviously changing the subject. Rol'ei smiled. He appreciated one who wanted a simple life. He had gladly given up much for the same.

“Often I need to think when the rest of the voices of the people are still,” Rol'ei offered; a true enough statement, and a common one by the ocean, but here... he stared at Jake's lips, pulling back in that common dreamwalker smile. Had he always appreciated the male form so much? Rol'ei shifted awkwardly. He had, certainly, but to better tell a story, or sing a song, for the female audience... surely?

“Ah, your great song about the sixth Torukmakto; Mo'at warned me that I might find myself cornered by your questions.”

Rol'ei nodded, finally realizing his good fortune; relative solitude while all the others slept to ask... oh Eywa. What to ask of such a honored warrior, especially one who would no longer be called Torukmakto?

“I want to sing of more than the battle, more than the horrors of the Sky People.”

Jake nodded to the still form by his ikran. “You've been following Ted, right? Has he been helpful?”

Rol'ei nodded. “Very. My eyes have been opened to more than I expected.” He shook his head. “Why are you awake so late?”

The look in Jake's eyes told the singer he knew the trick of picking a new draft in the conversation well.

“For months, I've been getting very little sleep, waking and working with the Omaticaya, then working with the Sky People scientists when this body slept.

“At first, I thought that living in only one body would mean that I could sleep through the night, but my legs are restless, my mind is restless.” He shrugged, a stiff movement of his big shoulders. “So, I rise with the stars and watch my people until I can rest once again.”

“A guardian's heart,” Rol'ei admired.

“I was a marine, a member of the Jarhead Clan,” the ironic smile on his lips described things Rol'ei couldn't understand. “The saying goes,” he spoke in the clipped tongue of the tawtute, then translated, using the word Rol'ei had suggested for obviously the first time, “Once a guardian, always a guardian.”

“A good song, a great song, needs a chorus about the softness of the heart,” Rol'ei said, turning the subject slightly.

“Neytiri,” Jake sighed, his voice and eyes soft in ways Rol'ei had not expected in the warrior.

“How do the Omaticaya take your mating?”

At this he flinched. “At first...” He scratched along the shaved side of his scalp. “When she announced it to the people, they would have killed me. Before, I was accepted, well enough, when Mo'at said I was to be taught. I was an amusing oddity... a...” he trailed off, then changed winds again. “But now I am brother to all Omaticaya.”

Rol'ei nodded, understanding. Until he wished to be mated with someone of power, he was of no consequence; now he holds power, so there is no longer a conflict.

“You love her?”

“With all that I am. I would not be alive without her.” Body and soul, he left unsaid but the words were heavy in the air between them.

“Will you have little ones?”

“Children? If Eywa wills it.” An answer worthy of any Tsahik.

“Even if I had not been learning from a scientist,” Rol'ei formed the harsh word carefully, duplicating Ted's inflection as best as he could, “I would know that the Sky People have brought wonders down to the people. Do you know if you are able?”

“Lisa said we have as good a chance as any other couple.”

“And if you can't?”

Jake sighed and leaned his forearms on his thighs.

“I've thought about that, but I haven't spoken to Neytiri yet...”

“You have my silence.”

Jake nodded his thanks. “There is a custom, among the Sky People, that when a child is unwanted, or has lost his family, that he is taken in by another one. Many families have been torn apart... so far, the Omaticaya have woven together to support all, but a strong family is needed to raise a child right.”

“So you would take in all of the children without parents? That would be a great undertaking.”

Jake smiled. “Not all, but two, maybe. And we would urge other Omaticaya to do the same, show a way that isn't our own but can be easily adopted.”

Rol'ei nodded, an weight off of his shoulders that he hadn't been entirely aware of. A family....

“A fine idea. I will have to suggest it to my Olo'eyktan.”

“On note of that, Mo'at wanted me to talk to you about those of your clan still here. She says that your wounded are ready to travel home.”

“How many wounded?”

“Only fifteen or so.”

“No, from all of the clans who came to Torukmakto.”

Jake looked off into the sky. “Well over a hundred.”

“Too many.”

He nodded.

“Mo'at sent you to speak with me because she would not have been so... polite. The wounded are many mouths to feed, bodies taking up space from a clan without a home.”

Rol'ei sighed, looking back at the space Ted's body occupied. A generous portion left empty not only for him, but for his swiftly healing ikran. In deference to his station. Shame heated his cheeks. They worked so hard to keep a place for him, when he'd spent so many nights elsewhere.

“Did she say when they would be ready to return?”

“The day after next,” Jake said with a clipped tone he heard echoing from the great Tsahik herself.

“We will leave then.”

Jake stayed him when Rol'ei moved to leave.

“You are welcome to return, Great Singer. You are also welcome to join the hunt tomorrow. I have promised to take down a sturmbeast.”

Rol'ei grinned wryly. “I am a Great Singer, one who was once Torukmakto. I am no hunter. I can raise my bow and shoot within a multitude, with my tribe at my back, but my arrow will be the one that kills the moss on the tree.”

Jake grinned. “The offer stands. When you are ready to leave, Mo'at offers enough pa'li to carry all of yours home.”

The tide of unease swelled once again. “We do not ride pa'li, Jake.”

He nodded. “I looked in on your people; I doubt many could make the ride anyway. It might be cumbersome while still in the woods, but once you're on the plain between the forest and the sea, I think it will work just fine.”

Rol'ei shook his head, confused. “What will work?”

“Wagons.”

Deep into the night, and well into the next morning, the two discussed possibilities until the singer felt dizzy from all the information.

* * *

Rol'ei growled at the stupid beast. Ted laughed openly.

“I don't understand why you're having such trouble! You're the one who has all the experience with the halo.”

Moving as one, Ted, astride his borrowed pa'li, retrieved the one Rol'ei had fallen from. Again.

“I don't understand how you can stay astride.”

The beast Ted rode bumped up side-to-side with the other, Ted reached over and took Rol'ei's arms so he could pull him back up onto that wide, hard back.

“Are you sure you haven't been practicing this?”

“First time in the years I've been here,” Ted said, his smile now gentle. “Easy with getting your leg back over, you took a bad spill last time.”

“Damn beast should keep me up here.”

Rol'ei slid his leg across the monster's back and slowly brought it down into place. The stretch hurt the healing muscles all over again, plus brought a fresh sort of pain between the legs.

“When I was young, I rode horses with my cousins. Horses are... well, rather like pa'li,” Ted explained before being asked. “But they only have four legs, instead of six. And they're fuzzy all over. My cousins did competition barrel racing. We rode often enough that I just got to the point where I didn't think about it anymore. It's the same thing here. If I just focus a little bit and just think about walking, then I'm okay... I certainly didn't feel everything then like I do now, but as long as I ignore all of that, I'm fine.

“Isn't it this way with Ratche?”

“No, Ratche is smarter than this hulking monster. She takes care of her own wings. How am I to organize all these legs? How do you?” Connected once again, but nervous about going too fast, he felt all six legs stumbling without coordination underneath him.

Ted's hand slipped over his, sliding it away from the death grip he had on his saddle.

“You look worried.”

“I can't ride one of these all the way home. I can't.”

Ted sighed. When he'd woken, Jake quickly explained, in 'Inglisi, the idea of the wagons. Ted seemed excited by the project, understanding more than even Jake did about how the pa'li worked... somehow. Rol'ei swallowed the bitter taste on his tongue.

“Perhaps you should go to the Pa'li Clan,” Rol'ei grumbled. “You seem more natural on their back than even the Omaticaya.”

“It's simply a matter of not thinking about it,” Ted said, his voice soft and kind. “Here, you think in song, right? Is there a song with the right beat?”

“Right beat?” Rol'ei asked, perplexed.

Ted's beast shifted, weight swaying side to side, feet shifting under him in uncanny organization.

“Close your eyes, Rol'ei.”

The singer did. Ted's hand slipped away from his. The pa'li snorted, the footsteps moving away loudly, deliberately.

“Listen to it, Rol'ei. I'm sure you know a song with the same rhythm.”

He focused, tried to focus, as Ted moved his animal in a circle around him. A tickle of a song wandered into his mind. There, yes. Ted had it right. A beat. A six beat song? No, he didn't know any six beats, but a three beat song he could think of.

“I see you nodding your head.” Rol'ei felt his lips lift at the smile he heard in Ted's voice. “Think of a dance... I wish you knew belly dance, it's the perfect metaphor, according to Aunt Janet. Eh, that doesn't matter. Here, keep your eyes closed, but take my hand. Now, think of that beat and walk with me.”

“But-”

“No, don't think. Hum or sing if you have to, but just walk. Focus on my hand in yours. Feel our hips bumping against one another.”

“Those are the broad armored hips of two damn stupid pa'li.”

“Nope. Mine, and yours. Both quite bare. Can't you feel my skin? Shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip.”

“You are attempting to distract me.”

“That would be the idea.”

The sound of a creak of leather was the only warning he had before Ted's lips touched his cheek. He blinked and looked around.

“We've gotten quite far.”

“Almost half the way to the barracks, then we can get the engineers to take a look at getting these two set up for their wheels. Come on, you've gotten this far.”

With a bit of coaxing, and Ted humming along off key, they got quite a bit farther with only a few stumbles along the way.

“I think I see the outbuildings through the trees. There.”

Rol'ei looked carefully where Ted pointed. Just the hint of unnatural stone through the foliage.

“I think I need a break.”

“Are your hips bothering you? Your thigh?”

Rol'ei slid down the side of the pa'li close to a few of the pitcher plants they enjoyed drinking from. He rubbed the ache in his thigh. If he stayed on the pa'li the whole trip home, it would be a long one. Perhaps he would be able to rotate with one or two of the wounded, spend some time in the wagon, or on Ratche's back. She'd probably do well with some reassurance that he wasn't abandoning her for a life on the ground.

“Hey, are you okay? You look so....”

Whatever Ted saw in Rol'ei's eyes stopped the words in his mouth.

Rol'ei took his precious face into his hands. All of the worries he held flickered between his shoulder blades. If all went well, he could be back to the ocean in three days, and bring back the pa'li alone a few days after that. Precious few days away from him. Terms of endearment burned on his tongue. Sweet nectar. Foam on the sea. Wind beneath my ikran's wings. Overpowering feelings of hope, and deep longing. He felt hollow with it.

And then what, when he came back? For an instant, he felt more like he'd be coming home, here, from going away, to the sea.

Would he court the younger man then, as he would a women? Would Ted welcome such advances? What of the Ikran Clan? Would they accept the Dreamwalker, a male dreamwalker, as the mate to their Singer? Perhaps staying with the Omaticaya would be better... spending a life learning the language of the Sky People, learning all the gifts they have, among people who, if not accept, at least tolerate the dreamwalkers.

“I want to tell you a story,” Rol'ei said, tentatively.

“We don't have time, not if we want to get something made by tomorrow-”

Rol'ei tugged on Ted's arm, keeping him close when he would have turned away.

“Perhaps, not so long ago, a man, no longer quite so young as he wanted to be, felt what he realized was love for perhaps the first time in his life. As much as he wanted to proclaim his love to the four winds and two oceans, two things stayed his voice... fear of what the other might say, and fear of what his clan might say, because their people had been battling for so many years, one could hardly remember a time of peace.”

Ted's hand cupped Rol'ei's chin once again, his eyes wet with emotion.

“Perhaps I should have told the story of Romeo and Juliet instead of Robin Hood.”

“Romeo and Juliet?” Rol'ei questioned, mimicking the sounds he assumed were names.

Ted shook his head. “It is a sad tale, of two young lovers who found each other admit the war between their families.”

“How can love be sad?”

The corner of Ted's lip pulled up. “They killed themselves in a misunderstanding, in an attempt to free themselves from their families. It is a very old story among my people.”

“Not told often to children, I hope. That is not much of an example to live by.”

Ted laughed. “Required reading, I'm afraid. But I find some hope in your story. Will you tell me the ending?”

“I do not know it yet.”

Ted nodded understanding, pulling away once again. Rol'ei clenched his hands into tight fists at his side.

“It is not far, we could just walk the direhorse the rest of the way, if you wish.”

“I wish to remain here, with you.” Ted looked back over his shoulder. The flicker of emotions Rol'ei saw pushed him on. “I need to take my people home, but I will come back. To you.”

Ted smiled, but didn't reply. Rol'ei huffed in frustration. Didn't Ted realize how difficult, how important, what he was trying to say was?

“Don't you understand? I'm willing to give up my clan for you.”

“I'm not asking that of you, nor of your clan. Especially when we've only known one another for a few days. It's too much. Have you had any lovers before?”

Ted's question threw a stone in his path. “Other lovers? No.”

He nodded. “Do you mind if I have?”

Rol'ei opened his mouth to comment, then thought back to the day before, the feel of their bodies pressed together and his hand expertly bringing them both to....

“Are you...” he hesitated to ask if he were mated, partly worried of the answer, partly not certain if he should ask if Ted were mated to a man or woman.

“I am mated with no one,” Ted clarified. “It has been years since I was even interested... and as much as I feel for you,” Rol'ei flinched. “I feel like as the more experienced one, I should push for temperance.”

“Temperance?” Rol'ei asked, incredulous. Who was it that had him pressed against the tree, who had their members tight in his palm... and now he asked for “temperance” as though he had not introduced him to the joy of another man's touch? “Tell me again of temperance when I return in eight days.”

Rol'ei suddenly grabbed Ted about the shoulders, wanting to both sate his desire and make the dreamwalker feel the same, so that when they met each other once again in a couple handfuls of days, he would not be the only one panting with desire.

Ted's lips were hesitant at first, but the singer kissed the corners, flicked his tongue along the seam, and nibbled along his pouting lower lips until he relented. He groaned at the feel of Ted's hands circling around behind his back, stroking the muscles there.

Rol'ei held him close with a feel of desperation, wanting to feel and taste so much of him, wanting all of him to fill that emptiness inside.

Ted's kisses wandered down his throat and along the line of his collarbone, lingering to nibble along his pulsepoints, finding sensitive spots that even the singer didn't know he had.

Rol'ei explored the other's body, his fingers grazing along the rise of his nipples, down the hard planes of his stomach, and down to those damn pants.

“Here, wait. I want to show you something different.”

Rol'ei groaned aloud as Ted pushed his hands away from the buttons. The dreamwalker kissed his frown in apology, before marking a purposeful line down his body with his lips. The touch down his breastbone had Rol'ei panting. The flicker of his tongue over his nipples had him shivering. By the time Ted knelt between the singers feet, his teeth nibbling along his inner thighs had him groaning in very real pain.

“Please...”

“Please what?” Ted asked, his voice a growl, his breath hot against his stomach.

“Please cease teasing me. I can't take it.”

Ted's laugh was a rumble along Rol'ei's thighs.

“But that's most of the fun,” he complained with humor in his voice. He rubbed his forehead against Rol'ei's stomach. The singer felt, more than saw, the cords of his loincloth loosen. The dreamwalker looked up at him with only his eyes, the dark gold lined with thick black eyelashes, while his lips slowly, oh so slowly, bent to kiss the leather before peeling it away from his yearning body.

Rol'ei held his breath, expectant of he knew not what.

Ted smiled mischievously, turning back to nibble Rol'ei's hipbones. Before Rol'ei could grumble again about his teasing, Ted gently lifted his bad leg, tucking the knee over the dreamwalker's shoulder so that Rol'ei's foot rested against the small of his back.

With one hand on the singer's ass, and one arm cradling him around the middle, Rol'ei felt surprisingly stable standing on one leg.

Then, Oh Loving Eywa, Ted brought his lips down to his painfully hard cock. He kissed each glowing freckle along his shaft, stopping here and there to circle one with his tongue. Rol'ei shuttered to the very tip of his tail, every speck of his flesh tingling and alive with sensation, then the dreamwalker brought flames behind his eyes.

His probing tongue encircled the tip of his shaft a moment; Rol'ei's body rocked with the motion. Finally, with one last sweep, his hot, hot mouth took him in. Rol'ei shouted. He only just felt Ted's fingers holding tight to him.

They stayed suspended in time, neither moving. The simple pulse Rol'ei could feel through Ted's tongue was enough to keep his body rocking.

Ted seemed to understand, and waited for him. He stood, leaning against the dreamwalker's shoulders, for a very long time. Ted's hot breath coming out of his nose tickling the base of him.

Oh so gentle, Ted rolled his tongue slowly forward and back, keeping his head still, so Rol'ei remained enveloped in moist heat that undulated with the tempo of the ocean. They groaned as one as Ted began to move his whole mouth, his lips gripping tight and sucking. They rocked together in a slightly off balanced dance as Ted urged him on and on, his tongue curling faster, his lips pulling harder.

It didn't take very long for that white hot ball of energy built up deep within him. He panted and cried out the dreamwalker's name, wanting more of him, wanting him to never stop, never leave him.

Just as he felt he could take no more, a strong hand slipped from his ass, cupped his ball sack for a moment, before stroking the tender flesh behind, working in concert with those talented lips. Onward and onward, the tide slapped hard against the rocks, giving him no relief from the will of the sea.

A break in the swell. Ted's arms gripped him hard, his knuckle pushing up tight against the nerve bundle he suddenly learned hurt it felt so amazing. Rol'ei grew hoarse from his shouts, his hands tangled tight in the dreamwalker's hair, holding his mouth flush against him. Ted's tongue danced along the underside of him, drawing out every spurt, the deep swallows of his throat creating amazing suction, drawing his ecstasy on and on until he felt he'd given all of his life force the man before him.

“Please.. ahh...” he finally called out, too tender to take any more, too muddled to put together a complete thought. Ted's lips drew away, carefully keeping every drop for one last swallow. Rol'ei shuddered.

Ted carefully let down the singer's bad leg. He nuzzled his face into Rol'ei's stomach, his strong arms the only thing keeping him upright. Rol'ei slipped even with the support, his feet loosing any purchase on the ground.

The wonderful man laughed good naturedly at him, guiding the exhausted singer safely to the ground. Ted cradled him in his arms, occasionally kissing his cheekbone, brow, and nose as the last of the shudders wracked his body.

“Let me know when you're ready to get up. I don't want to rush you.”

Rol'ei opened one eye and looked sideways at Ted. “I feel no need to get up... and I would like my chance to try that with you.”

The purplish blush came up in his cheeks again. “I'm afraid I won't be up to anything for a while...” he gestured to his damp pants with an embarrassed grin. “I had a bit too much fun pleasuring you.” He planted another kiss on Rol'ei's temple. “Maybe tonight?”

Rol'ei nodded, nuzzling against Ted's cheek.

Ted covered the singer's hand in his. Rol'ei looked down; he hadn't realized he'd been rubbing the ache in his thigh.

“Perhaps a quick swim before we go any farther? I think I hear a stream over there.”

Rol'ei nodded again. His eyelids felt impossibly heavy. Ted threw his arms around his shoulders, pulling him tight against his chest.

“Let's rest a moment, hm?”

“Hmm.”

* * *

They swam for only a short amount of time, Ted anxious to get the pa'li back to the tawtute to have the wagons fashioned for them. Ted did little more than get himself soaked from head to toe then hover over the singer while he floated in the shallow stream.

“How is your thigh?”

“It is fine,” Rol'ei answered for perhaps the third time. He sighed. All he wanted to do was nap in the gentle flow of the water. He liked that this stream was shallow enough he could touch the bottom with an ankle to anchor himself.

“Rol'ei, I-”

“I know, I know, we should leave.”

He sighed again and got up with a groan. Ted looked at him with concern in his eyes. And perhaps a little more. Rol'ei let a warm smile curve his lips.

“I am fine. I'm just not looking forward to controlling that dumb beast again.”

“Actually, I have an idea for that, if you'd like to try.”

Ted nearly vibrated with energy next to him as they made their way back to the beasts. Rol'ei wondered what he had in mind as he collected the two animals from their feeding at the pitcher plants.

He hopped nimbly enough back onto his mount, connecting with tsahaylu once he was settled. Surprisingly, he held his hand out to Rol'ei with a big, toothy grin.

“Ride with me,” he said. “I can take the lead rope from the other.” The lovely Omaticaya girl who'd readied these two pa'li for them had thoughtfully left the leads on; if they had been more experienced riders, they probably wouldn't have needed them at all.

“I thought I needed to get used to directing these things, since I will be leading the wagons,” he said, suspicious.

If it were possible, Ted's grin grew even brighter. “Come. I'll explain my idea on the way.”

Rol'ei shook his head, but took Ted's hand. The dreamwalker stuck his foot out to give Rol'ei a stepping place.

With a bit of work, Rol'ei found himself settled in front of Ted's limber form on top the wide, uncomfortable back. Ted wrapped an arm around Rol'ei's middle, reminding them of a few moments before, and tugged him tight against his body. The singer heard a roaring in his ears, his blood rushing through his body, at the heavy feel of Ted's cock pressed against his ass.

“I want you to feel the sway of my hips,” Ted said. “We just need you to relax a little bit.” His lips played at Rol'ei's earlobes. The words a promise that his body seemed to understand more than he did.

Ted chuckled at the shudder that went through his body once again. “You know,” he said in a quiet whisper, “For all that you say you are 'not so young any more' and the Omaticaya make fun of your age, you seem nearly ready again.”

Rol'ei felt an unfamiliar blush in his own cheeks. Ted's hand had traveled down his stomach and gently traced the outline of his loincloth, so gentle he hadn't felt it at first.

Rol'ei picked up the hand, kissed the palm, and returned it to his stomach.

“Aren't you the one who wants to get back quickly?” Rol'ei whispered. Ted groaned and nuzzled the back of his neck.

“Thank you for reminding me.”

With his free arm he collected the lead for the other beast. Rol'ei relaxed against him as he directed the pa'li. This part of the journey, though his thigh still ached, was a great deal more comfortable.

* * *

“You want to do what?”

Rol'ei looked back to Ted. He didn't quite understand the concept himself.

“A road trip. Rol'ei can't lead those two pa'li all by himself, and the others are too wounded to take a turn long enough to give his thigh a break.”

Several of the dreamwalkers, and even a couple of the remaining tawtute, were surrounding them, the beasts grazing a few steps away.

“Ted, you can't do that, it's insane!”

“I won't be the first Avatar to go that far,” he said. Rol'ei rather liked the stubborn set to his jaw. “Jake went out there.”

“Jake went by Leonopteryx and got there in a couple hours. On the direhorse, its going to take several days!” The male dreamwalker, Rol'ei didn't know his name, turned to Rol'ei as if for conformation. While many of the 'Inglisi words were strange, he got the general idea.

“If we move quickly, stop only to sleep at night, we can be there in three days. The pa'li will need to rest, I think before they could make the same trip back.”

“Why not just keep the pa'li there?” Lisa asked, her face kind among the strangers.

“We do not keep pa'li. They require sap from the great trees of the forest, and the juice of the pitcher plants. We have neither by the ocean. We can carry enough with us for the journey, but they will starve if they stay with us.”

“Well that answers that,” Lisa said, as if that meant quite a lot.

“What if we just flew everyone there? I mean, in the helicopters. We could get the whole group over there and back again in a couple hours.”

The glares from the others confused Rol'ei. “What is a hell-ee-cooper?” he whispered. Ted quietly mimicked the sound of the engine, and twirled a couple fingers over his head in a circular motion. Oh. Those monstrous beasts.

“And how do you think they'll take the helicopters, hm? Do you think they'll assume the humans are back to kill them, so soon after that battle?”

“I think it would be better to avoid that,” Rol'ei stepped in. “And most of the remaining wounded have lost their ikran to the battle. I doubt they are ready to fly again so soon.”

“Right, so the method of travel isn't in question, I'm just going to go with them.”

“Ted, you can't put yourself in danger like that, we need you here to...” Rol'ei squinted at the tall dreamwalker female. She'd lapsed into 'Inglisi, her words obviously rapid fire and angry. Suddenly the foreign words blossomed out around him, everyone talking over one-another.

Rol'ei moved behind him, suddenly unsure. The words sounded so vicious.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent, staring at the two of them. Rol'ei took Ted's hand, wanting support and wanting to give it as well. The male again asked a question, his tongue very hard and clipped. Lisa jabbed her elbow into his side. He snarled at her and she had an ear between her fingers and thumb in a flash, dragging him off by it. Yet another one asked another question, eerily similar to the angry male, but much quieter.

Ted responded in kind, quiet low. His hand gripped tighter on the singer's. The questioner nodded.

“Well, you'll need to pack, while I work on the wagons. Will the direhorse stand for me to take measurements?”

“They should,” Ted responded. Rol'ei watched him out of the corner of his eye. Why did he sound to tired, so world-weary so suddenly?

“Good. Go on.”

The rest of the dreamwalkers and Sky People turned away as one. Ted remained where he was, watching nothing for a long while.

“What just happened?”

Ted only shook his head and turned for the sleeping area. Rol'ei did not let go of his hand, even though Ted's angry pace was a little rough on his stiff muscles.

After the door banged shut behind them, Ted immediately stripped off his still-wet clothing.

“Do you think I should wear a loincloth, while meeting your people?” he asked.

“It is your choice. Once we are out of the shade of the forest, it will be quite hot,” Rol'ei advised.

“Hm, maybe one pair of pants then. And a pair of shorts.”

Rol'ei sat on Ted's cot, watching as he puttered back and forth aimlessly. The dreamwalker wouldn't look up to meet his eyes.

It didn't take long for Lisa to return. The singer breathed a sigh of relief at her smile. She returned it.

“Jason is an ass, Ted, you should ignore him.”

“What is an ass?” Rol'ei asked, glad he could finally question the 'Inglisi words they mixed in with the more familiar Na'vi.

“Erm...” Lisa looked to Ted for rescue, but he shrugged, leaving her to answer it. “It's the back end,” she finally said, pointing to her own. “The word can be used in both good and bad ways. Like 'I love your ass' or 'you have a sweet ass' are good ways to use it, while 'he's being an ass' or 'he's making an ass of himself' or 'you're a real asshat' would be bad forms of the word.”

Rol'ei tried duplicating a few of the phrases, bringing smiles to their faces at his purposeful mis-pronunciations. They sent the offending word back and forth a bit, until it had turned into an eloquent litany of the man's many faults, most of which Rol'ei had no inkling of the meaning.

“So, what is a 'road trip'?”

“Going away from family and friends on purpose,” Lisa said, after a thoughtful silence. “Often to spend time alone, or with a special someone, to find one's self.”

“So... that Jason dreamwalker is angry that Ted wants to go away from you? But he said he wants to return.”

Lisa made a wiggling motion with her hand. “A little of that. Alexi, that was the gal with the big W on her forehead,” she traced the marking on herself, making it clear who she spoke of. “Is a little worried about that. If anyone is going to figure out if we can make a crop for the humans, the Sky People,” she corrected herself, “out of one of the native plants, Ted is going to be the one to do it. If something happens to him...” She left the rest unsaid.

“I will protect him with my life,” Rol'ei said in a serious voice.

Lisa nodded. “That might be part of the problem. Jason's not only an ass, but a homophobic ass. When he saw you holding hands, he was pretty quick to add two and two.”

Rol'ei looked to Ted for clarification. Ted took a seat next to him on the cot, took his hands in his, but still refused to look into his eyes.

“Not everyone is... comfortable with two male mating with one another, or two females either. Some of those who are uncomfortable will simply ignore what is in front of them, while others can become violent.”

He looked up finally. Rol'ei's heart wept for the tears that shimmered over their lovely golden depths.

“Do not hide your emotions from me, even in public. If you want to hold my hand, please hold my hand. If you wish to kiss me, please do. If anyone tries to be an ass, I'll put poison ivy in their laundry.”

Lisa laughed, catching a joke that Rol'ei did not understand.

The singer simply held Ted's hands even tighter.

“Let me go grab one of the portable computers for ya, with one of the solar backpack chargers. Might as well get some cataloging in while you're out there. Oh! And your guitar!”

“Guitar?” Rol'ei looked over at Lisa.

“Oh no, please, don't pull that out.”

“Oh come on! We worked really hard on that!”

The monstrosity Lisa pulled out had eight tightly strung cords of metal, over an oblong, uneven wooden base.

“She made it,” Ted whispered.

“Ah! I could tell the hand of a true artisan!” Rol'ei complimented, having not a clue as to if it looked the way it should. “What is it?”

“Oh are you in for a fun road trip.”

“Fun road trip?” Rol'ei mimicked, worry settling in the pit of his stomach once again.

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Tsahaylu (Ted commonly mis-says "the halo" without realizing it) - the bond/neural connection
Tsahik - shaman, matriarch
Olo'eyktan - clan leader
Tawtute – Skye People
Torukmakto – one who rides Toruk, currently Jake
'Inglisi - English
Ikran (Banshee) – Four-winged flying mount, wingspan 13.9 meters (with Sea ikran easily reaching 15 or more)
Pa'li (Direhorse) – six-legged horse mount, 4 meters tall
Toruk (Leonopteryx) – “biggest thing in the sky” dragon-like main predator of the sky

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