After the RDA

[Puvomun]

1. Prologue

They said they had come as friends. They, the Sky people, the aysawtute. At first they seemed to be friendly. But then their big machines came. The machines that tore up the ground, destroyed the trees and killed our people.

The aysawtute had sent a woman, Dr. Grace Augustine, who really had become a friend of the Na'vi people. Using a Dreamwalker body, she learnt our language, and taught many of us the language of the Sky people. The children adored her as she adored the children.

But too many of the aysawtute were not here to be our friends, as they said. They wanted something from the soil of our world, and they were willing to wage a war with the Na'vi to get what they wanted.

At first there was a single man that came. His name was Jakesully. He was sent to us to learn about us, to become one of the People. He did. After becoming one of the Omatikaya he even mated with the daughter of our Tsahik and the Olo'eyktan, the clan leader.

Jakesully told us that the Sky people would not stop at anything to get what they wanted. Many did not believe him. Until the aysawtute came, with their flying machines, and destroyed the tree that had been our home for so many generations. Many were killed, among whom Eytukan, our Olo'eyktan. More were wounded. The People suffered.

It was then, in the time of great pain and sorrow, that the next Toruk Makto stood up. It was Jakesully, who brought together the clans. Jakesully, whose Dreamwalker body had been left at the site where once Kelutral, our Hometree, had stood.

There was war. It was not a long war in time, but it was fierce, bloody and painful. But the Sky people were defeated, and they went back to their own worlds.

Some of them were free to stay. Many chose that option, others left with their own people.

Before the war, we had tried to save Dr. Grace Augustine, who had been injured badly by one of their own people, a soldier. She is with Eywa now, the force that is everything, for her wounds were too serious. Mo'at, our Tsahik, and the combined efforts of the People, were not strong enough to help her weak body to move from her tawtute body to the Dreamwalker body she had used to walk among us.

And this evening, by his request, we try to bring Jakesully into his Dreamwalker body, so he will be a true Omatikaya.

Whatever happens, we know that the life of the Na'vi will never be the same again.

Puvomun,
teacher and singer of the Omatikaya

[Puvomun]

2. A new beginning

All the clan's members sat around the tree, hand in hand, their eyes on the low platform underneath Vitrautral, the Tree of Souls. On the platform stood Mo'at, the Tsahik of the clan, her trance slowly fading, while Neytiri, her daughter, and the mate of Jakesully, was looking at the small body of Jakesully.

Puvomun glanced sideways at Amhul, the woman who had mated with him only such a short time ago, during the war. Her eyes were on the platform, and he looked again at the scene there.

Neytiri kissed the small man's face. Silence was everywhere, even among the ikran, when she moved to sit with the body where Jakesully, who had been Toruk Makto, was meant to be in now.

The clan had given its power, its wishes and pleas to Eywa to make the change happen. There was nothing more to do now.

Suddenly Neytiri sat up. Slowly, very slowly, the Uniltìrantokx, the Dreamwalker body, started moving also. The people held their breath until the man was sitting up.

He looked around, showing his familiar grin, and held up a hand. Then he looked at Neytiri and said something. It was too far away from Puvomun to hear what was said, but the embrace that followed made it clear that the moving of body had succeeded!

Cheers of relief and happiness came from everywhere. People disconnected their queues from the ground around Vitrautral, through which they had added their energy to the ritual. Everyone stood up and laughed.

Puvomun embraced Amhul and felt happy. The clan had a new leader.

"We did well, ma yawne," he heard her say, "Eywa has heard us."

"Yes, she has."

Jakesully and Neytiri then came from the platform and together with Mo'at they walked around, talking to each member of the clan, as if to affirm for everyone that the soul and the body had joined.

The two singer teachers looked at Jakesully when he stopped with them. He looked the same and acted the same, as if nothing had changed, and yet Puvomun was aware of the amazing thing that had just happened to make this man who he was now.

"Thank you, my friends," said Jakesully, his hands on their shoulders. "Without you we would not have gotten this far."

Puvomun shook his head. "We did not much, Jakesully. There are others who did more. Who fought. Who lost their lives."

"Everyone did what they could, Puvomun, and call me Jake, will you?" There was the man's grin again, as if behind it there was a madman.

Maybe there was, Puvomun thought. Only a madman would have done what he had done and succeed at it.

"Amhul," Jake then said, "I will have to steal your man from you for a while. Not now, but soon. You'll get him back though."

Amhul looked at Jake's face, she was puzzled for a moment, then nodded. "Of course, Olo'Eyktan." After all, he was clan leader now.

Neytiri laughed. "There is no need to be so surprised, ma tsmuke, everything will be fine." Then the two walked on.

Amhul looked at Puvomun. "What does he want from you?"

"I don't know, ma Amhul, oe ke omum. We'll have to wait until it is time."

They watched how Neytiri and Jake talked to all their friends. Nusumea Tirea the healer-hunter, Lolet and her raucous mate Rakan, Ekirä and Korun, Tawtewng, and all the others. For each of them the new leader had a moment and a personal word, a touch and a smile or a stupid grin.

"He'll be a good leader," Nusumea Tirea said as he joined the two teachers. "He is truly Omatikaya."

"Srane, he is. I saw he talked to you," Puvomun said.

"He did. He wants to talk to me, later. I don't know about what." Nusumea Tirea shrugged for a moment.

"He said that to me as well. We'll just-"

"Hey people!" Rakan's loud voice interrupted the conversation. "Come on, we're going back to the village and party!"

All attention was diverted to the centre of the noise quickly, of course, especially after a surprised "Hey!" from Rakan.

Laughter erupted as everyone near saw how Lolet held her mate by his tail, a fierce expression on her face.

"Lolet, come on, you can't do that!" Rakan blurted out, "not in front of all the people! What will they think of me? Ouch!"

"Exactly what I want them to think," Lolet said. She let to go of his kxetse and pushed him. "I asked you to tell everyone, not give them a heart attack." With an angry look she paced off.

"Nothing changed there," Amhul grinned. "They're still happy together."

"Lolet, wait!" The young man ran after her. "Follow us, people, we're going to have a party! It's all part of the plan!"

"Can you come with me?" Nusumea Tirea then asked his friends. As if he knew he did not have to wait for an answer, he started walking towards the platform and the Tree of Souls.

When they arrived there, Nusumea sat down with the silent and cold body that had held the spirit of Jakesully. "I think we may not only need a song for Tsu'tey, but also for this man."

The teacher-singers nodded. That was a good idea.

"We also need to take care of his old body properly," a voice then said.

The three people looked around and saw Amaya approaching. She looked slightly apologetic.

"I thought of this, after talking with Jake," she simply said. "He has changed."

Puvomun was not sure about that; after all, he had seen the same dumb grin on the man's face. He did notice that Amaya also called him 'Jake' now, not Jakesully.

"Jake also said he wants to talk to me later," the young woman continued, "but he did not say why."

"He said that to Puvomun and Nusumea as well," Amhul told her, "so that makes three people with a question."

"I want you to apologise!" Lolet's voice suddenly chimed over the grounds. "Now, and here, and loud enough for everyone to hear it." She walked into view again, holding Rakan by the arm.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Rakan sounded in a hurry and some kind of pain, although it was not clear how Lolet managed that without being obvious about it.

Amaya looked at the scene. "Nothing changed with them," she remarked, invoking chuckles from the people near her.

Rakan breathed more relaxed suddenly, as Lolet let go.

"And now for real," she demanded.

Her mate looked at her as he rubbed his arm. "You're a mean woman, and too strong to be one," he complained. Then he looked at the people, whose undivided attention he had once again attracted.

"Sorry for making such a noise," he said. "And..." His hesitation earnt him a slight push from Lolet. "And my sincere apology to Jakesully. I did not mean to make a mess of this."

The Olo'Eyktan had walked up to where the two stood. "You would not be Rakan if you didn't do things like this," he laughed. "And for that reason you need a strong woman."

Then Puvomun and the others watched Jake do one of his strange habits: he rubbed the knuckles of a fist over Rakan's head.

"Hey, stop that!" Rakan exclaimed, ducking.

Jake grinned. "Try to be good, Rakan. At least this evening."

Mo'at had left Jake and Neytiri and walked up to the platform where the four people were. "I knew you would be here," she said.

Nobody was surprised about that. Mo'at always knew things.

"We want you to take Jakesully's old body to our new home," the Tsahik said. "He wants us to bury him there. Not here, with Vitrayutral. Tawtewng, Virid'ian and Eyamsiyu are already on their way to prepare the grave, so it is all ready when you arrive." Mo'at looked everyone in the eye for just a moment. "Go now."

Puvomun watched how Nusumea touched the forehead of the silent body. The connections that had come up from the earth, to transport Jake's being through the eye of Eywa and into the other body, loosened themselves, and once the body was free, the healer-hunter picked it up, carefully, as if it were breakable, vulnerable.

No questions were asked as to why they were told to do this.

"We will lead the others home soon," Mo'at said as the four people were about to walk off. "Eywa ayngahu."

[Puvomun]

3. Burial

Close to the grave stood two small people. One was Norm Spellman, the other was the man they had come to know as Max Patel. How they had come there, or who had warned and invited them, Puvomun did not know.

Burying the small body brought a very strange feeling to many of the Omatikaya. Never before had they buried someone who was still standing with them. Nusumea and Puvomun had carefully placed the body in the small grave. Torches lit the area and many aymokriya, seeds of the Sacred Tree, had come to rest upon the silent figure.

Jake stood at the grave, Neytiri by his side, and looked down into it.

"It is strange, you know," he said. "The first time I witnessed this, I did not understand it. Where I came from... the old me... death was just the end. Nobody knew what happened after that."

Amhul touched Puvomun's arm and pointed, as a few aymokriya had gently settled on Jake's shoulder. Puvomun nodded, he had seen them too.

"It's weird to see how much things have changed, my friends," Jake continued. "The aysawtute have brought too much change, perhaps. But it happened, and we have to live with that. Remember it. And go on with our lives." He turned and faced the Omatikaya. He held up his hand that held Neytiri's.

"Some of the changes are good. For me, for us. And I hope for many of you. At least I guess so, or you would not have gone through all the trouble of getting me into this body."

A faint murmur went through the crowd. The sound died away as quickly as it had begun.

Puvomun noticed tears roll over Jake's face, as the flickering light of the torches touched the man's face. Neytiri watched Jake's face, and there were tears on her cheeks as well.

The teacher's attention was brought to his mate as he felt her hand taking his, and he saw her smiling face.

"You made me one of you," Jake said. "One of the Omatikaya, one of the proud people. Despite the things I have done, the Sky people have done. And I want to thank you for that. That is why I want my old body to be buried here, close to you. The people who are my family."

Jake fell silent again. Something was on his mind, Puvomun saw, as the man's face changed expression.

"Many of you don't know how I came here, and most of you probably don't even care. I wasn't supposed to be on the ship, it was my brother Tommy. He had trained to be here, to be a scientist. Like Grace. Isn't it funny how life works out?"

The Olo'Eyktan shrugged. "Maybe I should shut up now. After all, I'm not dead."

There was a silence. Then a small voice asked if it was okay to say something. It was Norm Spellman.

"I just want to say that..." Suddenly Norm did not look certain of what to say. "I mean... A lot has happened, and I'm sorry for that. Too many people died for nothing. But at least now we have peace." The man looked a bit more together now. "And Jake, there were times I could kick your butt, but I'm proud of you now."

Max Patel nodded. "I agree. Except with the butt kicking, that is. And I want to thank Eyamsiyu and Ninat for inviting us over." The way he pronounced the names sounded very strange, but all the people understood.

Jake thanked the two men. "Now I need some people to, ehm..." He looked at the open grave for a moment.

Korun stepped forward. "We'll take care of that, Olo'Eyktan."

Jake nodded. "Thanks. Irayo."

Neytiri dragged Jake away from the grave. It had to be very strange for him, Puvomun understood, this saying goodbye to his old body.

Amhul and he joined the people that walked with Neytiri and Jake. To Puvomun's surprise, Rakan was among the ones that stayed behind to cover the grave.

-=-=-

The distance to the new Kelutral was not great, but it was enough to make a big change. The fires were burning, people were talking and food was being prepared. Nothing there reminded of the ceremony that had just been performed.

Norm and Max were given a place next to Jake and Neytiri, Mo'at sat close to them as well. Remarkably enough it were the mesawtute, the two Sky people, who opened the conversation.

"It feels weird to be so small again among you," Norm said as he looked up at the Na'vi people that surrounded them. Norm's Dreamwalker body had been severely wounded in the war, whilst fighting on the Na'vi side.

"Not my problem," Max responded, "I never saw them differently."

Jake laughed, as did many others who heard that. "It is not important how tall you are here, Norm. It matters -that- you are here. Among friends."

Norm agreed with that. "We got some funny looks, Max and I, when your people here came to collect us. Let me tell you that these horses are scary big when you're our size."

That caused another round of laughter from Jake. He remembered how that was, clearly, as Puvomun and Amhul had taken him to the Sky people camp on the back of a direhorse.

"It's a bit weird for me, though," said Max, "I've never had young children look down at me before."

Some of the children heard that and rapidly talked among themselves, laughing and yelling, while pointing at Max and Norm.

Amhul grinned and went over to them. As one of the teacher singers of the clan, she had a responsibility towards the young ones. Puvomun kept an eye on her, to see if she required any help, but Amhul was dealing with the laughing bunch quite well. Soon after she had talked to them, the song of the stingbat sounded, and more and more children started dancing around around the fire, with Amhul in the lead.

"Come, we dance too," Neytiri said to Jake. She did not wait for him to follow, she just got in line and danced and sang with the children.

"Sorry guys, duty calls," Jake said and joined the dancing, singing group.

Puvomun felt a soft touch on his shoulder. It was Nusumea Tirea's hand.

"Do you remember when the children laughed at him because he could not remember the words?"

The singer nodded. "Yes, that was funny. And he took it well."

The singing line of children had reached the end of the stingbat song and effortlessly changed to the song of the eight little hunters.

"I think I need to go and help now," said Puvomun. This children's song was still over Jake's Na'vi capabilities.

"Srane," Nusumea agreed, "kä rerol. Go sing."

Puvomun joined the line close to Jake, and sang the refrains loudly and slowly. Amhul cast a wide smile at him from the other side of the ring, as they sang the song slower. That would make it at least a bit easier on Jake.

Everyone who sat around the fire and knew the song, assisted in loudly yelling "tsko!" when the word came up in the song. It was one of the things Jake still had problems pronouncing correctly. Puvomun caught a "tskow" a few times and heard some children laugh about that, but the group finished the song without problems or strange interruptions.

For a while after that, Jakesully was almost buried under the youngsters calling his name. They all wanted to touch him, to show him their gratitude and affection. Only slowly the man was able to walk back and sit with his friends and his mate. Several of the faster children managed to find a spot to sit near them.

Puvomun, Amhul and Ninat stood together and discussed quickly on the next song. It was a terrible shame, they agreed, that they had no drums or large flutes. That limited the choice of the songs somewhat.

Ninat then said: "Wait, I have an idea." She dashed off towards Eyamsiyu. The two talked for a moment, Eyamsiyu nodded, got up and rapidly walked off into the darkness.

Ninat, also a singer of the clan, returned to Amhul and Puvomun. "Soon we will have drums," she said. "We can sing a few other songs first."

The two singer teachers were curious what Ninat had arranged so quickly, but did not ask.

First Amhul started to sing the Old Song of Eywa. Her voice was strong, and Puvomun and Ninat supported her singing by joining her in the refrains and clapping their hands in the slow beat. Quickly all the people around the fire were clapping their hands as well, joining in the power of the singing.

As the song ended, some strange drumming started. Eyamsiyu and Korun carried pieces of branches and beat them with small sticks, using them as drums. Soon there were merry songs sung, and people were dancing, while others clapped their hands.

Rakan and Lolet were dancing very wildly, they needed so much space that they had to dance outside the circle for a while.

"And he hasn't even had kava," Amhul remarked.

The singers had sat down to drink and eat, and give their voices some rest.

Ninat laughed at the remark and said that it perhaps was a good thing. "I don't want to see him even stranger than that."

"I hope he can't be," Amhul agreed.

"I am certain he can be," Puvomun added. "And I do not want to be around when it happens."

Everyone agreed with that.

The evening went on, in the end even Max and Norm decided to sing a song. It was one that Jake also knew, so the three sang together.

The music of it sounded strange to Puvomun's ears, as it would to all Omatikaya, but that did not stop anyone from appreciating it. Singing came from the heart, and these men now opened their hearts to the People. It was the way of friends.

[Puvomun]

4. Kelutral

It was very late when the party finally broke up. Several clan members were dozing where they sat. Norm and Max had used their radio to ask for a flying machine to come and collect them; they could not stay outside for too long with their breathing masks.

Rakan kept saying he wanted to dance, but he never got up until Lolet told him she was going to sleep. The way he walked showed that there was not much dance left inside him.

Nusumea had disappeared earlier, as he sometimes did.

Puvomun and Amhul woke up under one of the huge roots of the tree that was their new home. They, as several others, had agreed to sleep on the ground until there were enough hammocks high up for everyone.

"It was late," Amhul sighed as she rolled on her back and stared at the wood over her head. "I don't feel like getting up."

"We don't have to, ma Amhul. Everyone is still silent and asleep."

"You are becoming lazy, ma Puvomun, there are things to be done. Food to be made, children to be taught-"

"Do you see or hear any of the children yet?"

"Hmm. No. Maybe you are right." She snuggled up with her mate.

"Amhul! Amhul! Puvomun! Come see what Txetse found!"

"You are wrong," Amhul grinned. "Come. Let's see what Txetse found."

By the time the teachers had located the children, who were grouped near the narrow river flowing past the big tree, some of the mothers were there already.

"You should be more respectful to your teachers," one of the aysa'nok said, "not wake them up like that."

"But mother, they always want to see what we find!" one of the children threw in some defense.

"Tam tam, it is fine," said Amhul, "we were awake anyway."

The mother insisted that the children should be more considerate though, and the teachers agreed.

"Now, what was all the noise about?" the mother then asked.

Txetse held up something which at first looked like a shard of rock. "Look, it is the claw of an ikran," the boy said.

The adults examined the piece, and from what they knew they had to agree: it looked like the claw of an ikran's foot.

"I wonder how that got here," Puvomun said. "We're far away from Iknimaya, and wild ikrans don't come near places where people live."

"We have not lived here for long," Amhul reminded him. "Maybe we should show this to someone who knows more about ikrans."

"Can I have it back?" Txetse asked.

"Of course, you can have it back later," Amhul promised.

"We'll go and find more!" one of the other children yelled and the group ran off, shouting as they splashed through the water.

"Puvomun?"

The teacher turned, recognising Amaya's voice. "Yes?"

"Can you come? Jake wants to talk to us now. Nusumea Tirea is there also."

"Go and talk," Amhul said, "I will watch the children. After last night I think they are not willing to learn much."

Puvomun nodded a smile and then followed Amaya, who took him to the other side of their new home. They walked around the huge tree, on the side where the river did not flow. On that side was the large area where the party had been the evening before, and beyond that was the forest, with high trees close to each other, and many flowers and plants.

Jake and Neytiri sat on one of the huge parts of the tree trunk, that was dug into the soil like a giant toe. Nusumea Tirea sat on ground, patiently waiting.

"Ah, there you are," Jake said as the two appeared. He jumped down from his high position. "I am glad you all could make it."

After he had sat down, he said: "I've been doing a lot of thinking, guys. It's quite a step up from being a jar head marine to running a clan, so I'm gonna need some help. And I hope you want to help me."

"Help you? How can we help you?" Amaya asked. "How can I help you? Nusumea and Puvomun, yes, they are older and wiser, but me?"

"Let me explain this, okay? Let's first start with Nusumea here."

The healer-hunter frowned. Jake never managed to pronounce his name correctly.

"Before I came over here, I was in a hospital, and I had these dreams. Dreams of flying, and of doing all kinds of good things. I know that Nusumea Tirea has had that kind of dreams too, and he did good things with that."

"Including scaring his ikran," Puvomun reminded Jake.

"Yeah, that too." The Olo'Eyktan laughed for a moment. "But he can be helpful in many ways, I am sure. Mo'at can do with some help, Nusumea can give that help. I also heard that he's good at finding things, so that's a benefit."

Puvomun saw that Amaya was a bit restless. "Mawey, ma Amaya. Your turn will come."

She nodded, remaining restless.

"Okay. Puvomun. You're probably surprised too." Jake peeked at the young woman. "So we'll first deal with Amaya. I've seen that you have a way with animals, Amaya, taking care of them. They trust you. They come to you. I think it's good to have an extra healer around. I want you to tag along with Nusumea, learn from him and help heal people as well as animals."

"Tag along?" Amaya sampled the strange Inglisi words. "What is that?"

"Oh, right. Uhm - Follow him around. Learn from him. Help him. Stuff like that."

"And learn from Mo'at?" Amaya wondered. She did so with reason, Puvomun knew, as that was what Neytiri was supposed to do.

"As much as she wants to teach you," Neytiri replied for Jake, from her high position. She then jumped down and joined the group. "Ma oeyä sa'nok is not keen on spreading the knowledge too much. Which I can understand. It is the way."

Amaya nodded. She was amazed that she was asked for this, which was quite an honour.

Puvomun then asked Jake how he had come to these decisions. They all made sense, but for some reason this involved knowledge of the people that Jake could not have.

"Don't look at me," the man said in response. "I'm just the messenger. It's Neytiri's idea mainly. I need someone to help me run this show."

"Run... show...?" Now Puvomun was among the confused ones.

"Make this work, you know, get things in line?"

Neytiri slapped the clan leader. "You will always be stupid," she growled, but her eyes betrayed her amusement. "He means that he can not do this alone. I told him he needs a few people for council. For advise."

"Hey," Jake then said, "I was supposed to explain that!"

"Then use words we understand!" Neytiri shot back.

Everyone laughed for a moment. Then Jake picked up where he'd left off. "Okay, I'll try and keep this simple. So Nusumea, you will be part of my council and do the healing and caring I mentioned. Amaya will work with you and also take care of the animals when they need. Oh, you can also look for others who can help you with that, Amaya."

Amaya nodded slowly. "But I am too young to be on a council, Jake."

"You're not. You're perfect. I need input from young people too, we're not a bunch of old folk trying to - uhm - you know. We are going to do this together. You talk to the young people and voice their ideas."

That sounded sensible, Puvomun thought.

"Which brings me to you, Puvomun. You're older. You gave me good tips before, so I want you also."

"But I am just a singer, Jake," Puvomun said.

"And a teacher. And teachers know stuff, right? You can do the talking with the older people, like Amaya does with the young ones. That makes things easier. For me, anyway." Jake grinned.

There was some more discussion on who would do what, and how, but Jake and Neytiri seemed to have this all thought out well. No matter what either of the three freshly appointed council members brought up, their arguments were countered well by either Neytiri or Jake, so in the end they had to admit that this would be a wise situation. At least for the time being.

"We can always have a look at how things go, in a while," Jake said as they ended their get-together. "But I'm going to call on you when I need some help. Now I'm going to find Tawtewng, he's going to have to take up the part of my brother Tsu'tey. Someone has to train the new young hunters, and that's something he can do. It'll teach him patience."

Puvomun and Nusumea Tirea laughed. That would be an adventure in itself, seeing Tawtewng in such a position. At least he had the right attitude for it.

The three walked back to the central area on the other side of the tree, talking about this sudden change in affairs.

"I am certain it will all be well," Nusumea said. "And now I will go on with my normal things. There is a lot to do."

Puvomun agreed. He had a lot of work also, as so much had been lost in the destruction of their old home.

"But what I am going to do now?" Amaya asked.

"You could find Peyral, and see if she needs help. I know she was going to look after fa'li, the horses. Some were hurting."

"Yes, I will do that. Thank you, Puvomun. I think I will come to you and Nusumea for council too," Amaya grinned. Then she went on her way to find Peyral.

Before Puvomun went to work on making some more toys for the children, as so many of those were lost, he went looking for Amhul to tell her what had happened. He walked along the river. There were many footprints in the sand, all from children.

When he reached a group of ayeveng who were playing in the water, he heard from them that Amhul had spent some time with them, and then she had gone off into the jungle.

"Alone?"

"Yes, ma Puvomun. She said she would be back soon and we should play."

The teacher singer frowned. Why would Amhul leave the children alone, and why would she go away without telling anyone?

[Puvomun]

5. Iknimaya

"Puvomun?"

The teacher jumped as he heard the voice. "Amhul! Where have you been?" He rushed to his mate and took her hands.

"I was in the jungle, ma yawne, didn't the children tell you?"

"They did, but I worried." Puvomun looked at Amhul. "You didn't even take tsko swizaw. What if somethings had attacked you?"

She laughed and shook her head. "I was not far away, and I had my knife. You know how bad I am with shooting arrows. I would have hurt myself."

"Then I will have to ask Ekirä to teach you," Puvomun decided.

Before he could ask what she had done all alone out there, Jake called the singer's name. Together, the teacher singers walked to where they had heard Jake.

Neytiri was with him, as was Tawtewng. There were three fa'li with them.

"I'm sorry to drag you away like this, ma Puvomun, but we have some serious business to attend to," said Jake.

Puvomun noticed how Neytiri's face was serious and also a bit sad. "What can I do for you?"

"We have to go up to Iknimaya. Neytiri needs another ikran." Jake spoke gently now. Everyone knew how Neytiri had lost her ikran, Seze, during the battle with the Sky people. "I need you to guide Neytiri and Tawtewng, ma 'eylan. I am flying up there and we're coming back that way."

"Of course, we will go there."

Puvomun said goodbye to Amhul and mounted the pa'li that was waiting for him. As they rode, Tawtewng told about the request Jake had made to him and how amazed he had been. The teacher grinned and said that the young warrior was not the only one.

"I have to go up with you," Tawtewng continued, "wait there for Jake, and then we have to witness the catch."

That was new for Puvomun. He had never been up to Iknimaya, he had only taken the horses to the stairway and back.

"Don't worry, rolyu," said Neytiri, her face relaxing. "We'll take care of you. We know it is not what you normally do."

-=-=-

They arrived at the start of the long and strange way up to the floating mountains where the wild ikrans lived. Tawtewng and Neytiri told Puvomun they would go slow, so he'd be able to keep up, and then they started the ascent. It was far. Very far. Puvomun knew he was in a fairly good shape, but when they reached the highest part of the floating ladder, he was in need of some rest.

"That is good, we have to wait anyway," said Neytiri.

Puvomun was not sure what they were waiting for but at that point he did not really care.

As they were waiting, a shape swooped down and a "hey guys!" reached their ears. Jake had arrived.

"Get ready," Tawtewng suddenly said.

A rock came floating past. Puvomun saw how the other two jumped and caught long hanging vines, along which they climbed up. He jumped also and caught one. As he climbed up, he wondered how Tawtewng and he were supposed to go down again.

Reaching the highest part of the mountain, the three swung into a tunnel. Tawtewng and Neytiri had been here before, leading the way. They reached a kind of cave with a large opening, that gave view to an enormous plateau with hundreds of ikrans.

Jake was waiting for them, his ikran sitting on the ledge of the opening. The man looked serious. "Are you ready?" he asked Neytiri. She just nodded and took a sling, made of a sticky plant.

The group walked along a narrow corridor that had a waterfall splashing down next to it. One wrong step was all it would take to have a long fall to uncertainty. A Na'vi body could take a lot, Puvomun knew that, but from this height he was not certain what the outcome would be.

He followed the three as they proceeded along the hissing and wing-flapping ikrans, uncertain what to do if one of them would come after him.

As if Tawtewng had read Puvomun's mind, he said: "Don't look at their eyes, Puvomun, just stay close to us."

That was sound advice.

Suddenly Neytiri stopped walking. In front of her was a large ikran, with amazing colourful spots. It stared at her, hissed and seemed ready to attack her. Then everything went very fast. The animal lunged, Neytiri jumped and hissed, the sling went faster than the eye could follow, and then she had the animal in a grip that could never last long.

The teacher saw how Neytiri grabbed the ikran's head with one hand and her tswin with the other, and then the magic happened before his eyes. Taronyu, a hunter, making tsaheylu with an ikran.

"You did it, baby." Jake almost danced for excitement, Tawtewng grinned widely and Puvomun found himself shaking and impressed.

Neytiri let the ikran sit up, with her on its shoulders. "Tam tam," she said, "it is all well."

For a few moments she looked entirely focussed on the ikran. Then she looked at the three men, let out her cry and the ikran jumped up into the air. Powerful strokes of its wings took them up high and fast. As the two disappeared from the platform, the three men walked to the edge and watched how she flew.

"It is amazing," Puvomun could only say. He recalled the few flights he had made with other people, and those had left an unerasable impression with him.

"It is," Jake agreed. "We'll give her some time to fly."

The three made their way back to the open cave where Jake's ikran was still waiting. After a while, Neytiri came to the same opening. It was as if she had never done else, when she landed her ikran there and jumped from it.

Her face was shining as she broke tsaheylu with the ikran. "I will call her Seze as well, for her colours," she simply said.

"Are you ready to be taken down?" Jake asked Tawtewng and the teacher. "We're going to drop you at the beginning of the path. Sorry, but you'll have to walk up for the fa'li, we can't get you all the way up there."

Puvomun was surprised as well as relieved.

Jake told the teacher to fly with him and Tawtewng would fly with Neytiri. It did not take long before they were on the ground, and the ikranä memaktoyu flew off towards the village.

When the fa'li riders came back, there was a surprise. They saw Jake and Neytiri talk to a familiar person. It was Norm Spellman, the scientist who had worked with Dr. Grace Augustine. And he was there in his Dreamwalker body!

Jake told Puvomun that Max Patel had found a way to repair and revive Norm's avatar, and now Norm could travel the world in his Dreamwalker body again, using the link-up machine.

"We also have a problem, though," the Olo'Eyktan went on. "We're not sure yet what happened, but some of the Avatar bodies are missing."

"And their drivers are missing also," Norm added. "There are people out looking for them but so far no one's been found yet."

"We need some saronyu to go out on their ikran," Neytiri decided, "and see if they can locate the ayuniltìranyu who are missing."

Jake agreed. Tawtewng would be in charge of that part, so the young warrior ran off, summoning all available warriors and hunters to follow him. Lolet, Rakan, I'awn, Txonway, they all came.

"We'll find them, Norm, no need to worry," Jake tried to relax Norm. "Did you ask some of the riders near the camp to look around in the forest?"

"Yes, they went out at the moment I left to come here. I should go back now, since you know what's going on," Norm stated. "The Samson's waiting for me to return, don't want to keep that waiting."

"That's okay. We'll keep each other posted if something changes. We can get to you by ikran quickly."

"Oh, right, before I forget. This is yours." Norm reached into a bag he had next to him and took out two pieces of sawtute equipment. "Radios. That's even faster. They should work for quite a while."

"Good thinking, Norm," Jake said, appreciating the gifts.

Puvomun saw Norm's face change for a moment.

"Those are Sanders' idea, not mine. I don't do this military stuff, remember? Scientist here, nothing more."

Puvomun shook his head. "You fought with us, Norm. You were brave to go against those who came to destroy us."

Norm looked a bit shy as he shrugged. "It's what you do for friends." Evidently he did not want to spend more words on the subject, as he got up. "We'll stay in touch. I hope there's nothing wrong with them. Maybe the drivers went on a search after finding their avatar bodies gone."

"We'll find them, Norm. We or you, doesn't matter. They'll turn up."

The group watched as Norm jogged off, to where his flying machine was waiting...

[Puvomun]

6. More claw

A few days went by without much happening. The people were getting settled in the new home. The weavers had made enough hammocks for everyone to sleep comfortably, and even the children were attending their lessons in the usual fashion.

Sometimes Puvomun had to leave Amhul alone with the group, when Jake needed assistance, but then Ninat, Ekirä or Lolet were always willing to help.

One afternoon, Puvomun and Amhul had been singing with the children, Amhul suddenly told him she had to leave. As he asked her why, she said there was something important she had to do.

"Is there something I can help with?" Puvomun asked, wondering why Amhul seemed in such a hurry suddenly. She had been gone regularly over the past days already and did not tell him where she was going.

"No, it is all fine. It's just... I have to take care of something. Or try to." She touched his cheek for a moment, then got to her feet and walked off.

"Where is she going, Puvomun?" Txetse asked. The boy was playing with something.

"I don't know. She will be back soon," the teacher replied. He recognised the bit of claw that the boy had found some days ago. Rakan had confirmed that it was from an ikran, and he was equally puzzled how it had gotten there, in the water.

"Let's sing another song!" Turit begged. The girl loved to sing, and had a wonderful voice.

Everyone agreed with her, so they sang about the ayeltungawng, the glow worms that made the water shine so bright in the nights, one of Turit's favourite songs. After a few more songs, Puvomun sent the pack running and playing, something they gladly did.

As he walked to where he had been working on a new bow, Ninat stopped him. "They are adjusting well to their new home, don't they?"

"They do. Most of us do. Are you feeling well here, Ninat?"

"Srane, oe lu nìltsan. I am happy here. Eyamsiyu is a good mate, he provides for so much. Did you know he is making a flute?"

"I did not. How wonderful." Puvomun smiled. Yes. Some new flutes for the Omatikaya would be a fantastic thing.

"Oh... maybe I should not have mentioned it then," Ninat said. "Maybe he wants to surprise you and the musicians."

"Don't worry, Ninat. I will be surprised," Puvomun promised. "Have you seen Jake?"

"No, I have not. He's been away so much lately." The female singer sighed. "Neytiri still has her hands full with him."

"I know." Puvomun thanked her and went looking for Nusumea Tirea, to learn that the healer-hunter had indeed spoken with Jake earlier.

"They are away again, trying to find the missing ayuntiltìranyu," Nusumea said. "Norm Spellman has not found them yet either." Then he looked at his friend. With a tilted head, he said: "There is something bothering you, ma tsmukan."

Puvomun knew that Nusumea could see things in people that nobody else except Mo'at could. "Yes. It's Amhul. She is leaving so often. Every day. She says it is important, but she does not say what it is. And that is not like her."

The healer-hunter nodded, he knew Amhul well.

"If only I knew where she was..."

"Come with me, ma Puvomun. I may be able to find her."

They walked to Nusumea's workplace and sat down. The healer burnt a few herbs and closed his eyes.

"What's he doing?" Amaya's gentle whisper sounded as she kneeled with Puvomun.

"Trying to find Amhul."

"Ah. Yes. She is away often," Amaya nodded. She was not surprised about Puvomun's words either. Everyone knew about the strange ability Nusumea possessed.

In silence they sat and waited for Nusumea to open his eyes again.

"She is not far from here," the healer said. "She is not alone, but she is also at peace. It is a bit confusing. If you want to find her, go north and then cross the river."

"Not alone?" Puvomun did not understand that. "Who is with her?"

"I cannot tell you."

"Maybe she found the missing ayuniltìranyu? The missing Dreamwalkers?" Puvomun stood up. "Thank you, brother. North, you said. I will go and see if I can find her."

"I can come with you," Amaya said, "I have no work left for the day."

Amaya was someone who often ran out into the forest alone, so Puvomun accepted her offer. She'd know her way around better than he did.

"I'll tell anyone who asks for you that you will be back soon," Nusumea Tirea said. "Even when it is Amhul," he joked.

Puvomun and Amaya went to fetch their bows and arrows. Amaya also took her knife. It was best to be prepared. Then they set off into the jungle, following the winding river.

-=-=-

"Are you certain we are going in the right direction?" Puvomun asked as they had travelled for quite a while.

"Yes. He said north. We go north."

"He also said to cross the river and we have not done that yet."

"True. Have you seen a place where we can do that?" Amaya stopped and pointed at the river, which was rather wide now.

"Kehe. I have not. But I don't... oh, let's go on."

Amaya grinned and led the way again, until they came upon a spot where trees were sparse and the river not so wide. As if it had to be, there was a fallen tree, spanning the water.

"I think we can cross the river here," Amaya said, sounding far too pleased with herself. She started to walk towards the fallen tree, when Puvomun grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the thicket.

"Silent," he whispered.

They crouched low and waited. Puvomun's ears had not betrayed him: someone was coming.

When the figure walked over the tree, directly towards the two in hiding, Puvomun rose. "Amhul..."

The singer teacher stopped traversing the tree bridge. "Puvomun. Amaya... Why are you here? And how-" Slowly she walked towards her mate. "How did you know where to look for me?"

"I worried," Puvomun simply said. "And Nusumea tried to make me feel better by looking for you."

Amhul frowned. "That man. I need to have words with him." Then she took Puvomun's hand. "Come. We can go home now."

At that moment a loud cry sounded, from the other side of the river. Amhul looked back, a worried look upon her face. She let go of Puvomun's hand and said: "You should go back. I have to go and see..." Without waiting for a response, the woman jumped onto the fallen tree and almost ran over it.

Puvomun did not go back. He was not far behind Amhul, and Amaya was almost on his tail. They followed Amhul at a fast pace, as the woman raced through the trees. The run ended in a small open patch.

The two new arrivals stared speechlessly.

"Stay back, please," said Amhul. "They don't know you."

Slowly the teacher singer walked towards three ikrans who were resting on the ground. One of the animals lay in an awkward position that even Puvomun knew was not normal for its kind. The other two still sat normal, but did not look very well.

"Amhul... how did you find them?"

Amhul kneeled with the lying ikran, touching its head, talking to it gently. After a while she looked at the two waiting people. "I was looking for wood to make a few baskets when I heard them. That was after Txetse had found the claw. It is from this one." Gently she stroked the head that lay on the ground.

Carefully Puvomun came forward, but after only a few steps one of the more lively ikrans started snapping at him, so he returned to where he had been safe. Before he could do something, Amaya inched forward, holding out a hand with a root she'd picked up from the ground.

"Tam tam," the young woman whispered, "it is alright. Calm now, easy..."

"Amaya," Puvomun whispered, but she did not listen.

Amhul watched Amaya go, and the ikran did not snap at her. It grabbed the root and ate it, quickly. Its eyes stayed on Amaya, as she walked around the two animals. She kneeled down and watched, moved on, kneeled and watched again.

"They are hurt," she then said. "By aysawtute weapons."

Puvomun again tried to approach Amhul, but again he was chased back by the ikran that definitely was unfriendly towards him. He watched as Amaya kneeled down with Amhul and let her hands go over the animal on the ground.

Amaya shook her head. "This one is in very bad shape. We have to go back and tell the others. Nusumea has to know. And Mo'at. And Jake and Neytiri."

"Kehe," Amhul objected, "no, they will all want to see them and touch them, and then they will die."

"Amhul, you cannot cure them," Amaya insisted. "We have to find help, someone who can do something for them that is more than feeding them and giving them attention."

"Amaya is right, ma yawne," Puvomun agreed, "you cannot do this alone. Even the three of us couldn't."

The young woman stood up and pulled Amhul to her feet. "Come, we have to go quickly. It is better."

"Amhul, listen to her. Jake and Neytiri said that Amaya is good with animals. Listen to her."

Amhul looked at the lying animal again, then nodded. "Let's go then, fast." She touched the heads of the other two, whispered something, and then hurried along the invisible path and over the tree, the others in her wake. Instead of turning into the forest, from where Amaya and Puvomun had come, she climbed up a tree.

"What are you doing?" Puvomun wondered.

"This is faster," was her reply. "How do you think I could get here and back so quickly and spend time with the ayikran?"

"Tewti..."

The two followed Amhul up the tree and made their way to the village over the high branches in an amazing time.

[Puvomun]

7. You have to

The return to the village had some commotion waiting for the three people.

Jake was standing with a radio in his hand, talking with Neytiri and Virid'ian. Tawtewng was talking to a few warriors.

"What happened?" Puvomun asked someone, but before the man could answer, Jake already called the teacher over.

"We have some kind of situation at the camp, ma Puvomun," the clan leader said. "Neytiri, Tawtewng and I are going there to see what's the matter. I will leave things in your hands. Together with Mo'at, Nusumea Tirea and Amaya you will make things work, right?"

Puvomun nodded, assuming he understood the strange way of expressing that Jake still maintained. "You go there and we stay here."

"Exactly. I knew you'd understand," Jake grinned. "I just spoke to Norm. They has found something strange concerning the avatar bodies that are missing. The ayuniltrrr... you know."

Puvomun knew. One of the hard words to pronounce. "We will be fine, Jake. Go and fly well."

Jake paced off, calling out some last bits of information to whoever wanted to hear them, and then the three ran off towards the tree, going up to where the ikrans lived.

Soon they saw the three riders fly, Neytiri's ikran clearly distinguishable by its colourful markings.

"I see you have found the lost woman?" Nusumea's voice dragged Puvomun's attention back to current affairs.

"We did. Amaya found her," Puvomun replied. "And we have to tell you something. And ask you. And Mo'at too."

The healer-hunter just nodded and walked them to Mo'at, where they told what they had seen.

"So you found three ikrans? In the forest?"

"Yes. And they are hurt. One is hurt badly," Amhul elaborated somewhat. "I am trying to help them, but..."

Mo'at looked at Amhul sternly. "We will have to talk about this. You teachers go. We will call you."

Amaya's face was all wonder and confusion as the teacher singers were sent off and she was to remain with Mo'at and Nusumea, to decide on what to do.

"What will they say?" Amhul asked her mate.

"I don't know, Amhul. We have to wait."

"I hope you understand, ma yawne," she said, taking his hand. "I just want to help these poor animals."

"You have a good heart, Amhul, but some things are not for us to decide. They are for Eywa."

Amhul nodded.

"Puvomun!"

The teacher looked to the source of the yell. It came from Lolet who came running.

"Puvomun, do you know what a 'pxar' is?" she asked.

"What?"

"A pxar," Lolet was certain. "Jake told me to make kava so the pxar was ready. Rakan is already making jugs, but we don't know what a pxar is."

Puvomun thought for a moment. "It is probably one of these Inglisi words he uses. Pxar. Par, perhaps?"

"Yes, that was it. Par." Lolet beamed as she recognised the word.

"It must be something Sky people use to drink," Amhul tried to help. "Maybe he means the cups."

Lolet frowned. "I don't think so. I'll go around and ask a few more people who talked with Jake a lot. Maybe they know. And otherwise I just wait until he comes back and ask him what it is."

The teacher singers agreed that was a smart thing to do.

"Did Rakan mention any stones for his kava?" Amhul grinned.

Lolet laughed out loud. "No, he has not! I don't think I will remind him of that either, he's working so hard now. I don't want him to stop. I'll go and ask the others now. Hayalovay!"

"Kìyevame, Lolet," the teachers said. About then they were called by Mo'at.

"We have talked about this," said the Tsahik. "It is difficult as this has not happened before, but we have decided."

Nusumea Tirea and Amaya nodded, silently. They clearly wanted to leave the talking to Mo'at, something that did not make Puvomun feel very good. He felt Amhul's hand tremble a bit, as it rested on his arm.

"You will go to the ayikran," Mo'at said, "and then you will make tsaheylu with the two that are still well."

A shock ran through Puvomun. He knew that Amhul was as surprised as he was, as she squeezed his arm.

"You will end the life of the ikran that is suffering. It has no chance to live, from what Amaya says, so it is better to make it join Eywa than to prolongue its misery."

"But why do we make tsaheylu with the other two?" Amhul asked. "We are teachers and singers, not hunters or warriors."

"That is why," Nusumea answered her question. "The hunters and warriors go up Iknimaya and claim their ikran from there. You are not meant to go there, so you are the perfect solution."

"Your life force will help your ikran to live. You will be able to motivate it," Amaya added. "If you don't do this, we will have to end their lives as well. Without that they can't heal."

"You can decide," said Mo'at, "but you have to decide soon. And then do what you decide. Now go. You have time while you are on your way." She waved her hand, as if she was shooing them away. "Amaya and Nusumea will go with you."

The teachers walked off, more confused than they thought they could have been. But nothing could have prepared them for this outcome.

"Are you well?" Nusumea asked as he and Amaya joined them. "Are you ready to go now?"

They were. They had to, for the Tsahik had said this had to happen.

As they were travelling, the route over the high branches, the teachers were left to their own thoughts.

"Are we going to do it? Make tsaheylu?" Amhul asked.

"I think we should," said Puvomun. "You always wanted to fly, ma Amhul. Now you and I both have a chance."

"But maybe the ikrans won't survive," Amhul said, feeling very troubled and sounding miserable.

"I know. But hunters also lose ikrans, so when we take one step, we are destined to take the other as well. I think the two animals have a good chance of living. Otherwise Mo'at and Amaya would not have given us this option."

"You are right."

Soon they crossed the tree bridge and reached the spot where the ikrans still were. The one that lay on the ground barely moved when the people entered the small clearing, the other two had not changed much, it seemed.

Amaya took her knife and held it out. "One of you has to do it," she said, her voice calm.

Amhul stared at the knife as if it was a arachnoid ready to strike at her.

Puvomun then took the knife from Amaya's hand and started to walk to the lying ikran, but the most active one prevented him from coming close enough. "I need your help, ma Amhul," he softly said.

Amhul nodded and went to calm down the two ikrans, taking their attention away from Puvomun who then kneeled with the near dead one. Nusumea Tirea sat down with the teacher and showed him where he'd have to strike to make the death fast and painless.

The animal tried to move and shrieked in pain as it did so.

"Now. You have to," said the healer-hunter.

Puvomun placed the knife and pushed as hard as he could. "Tam tam, ma tsuk," he said, "your pain is over now."

The ikran shuddered a last time, then fell silent and limp.

"Your soul will join Eywa now," Puvomun whispered, "before we had time to become friends, before you lived a full life. It is the way. Eywa ngahu, ma ikran." As he pulled the knife back, his hand shook. He was indeed a teacher and singer, not a hunter.

"You did well, ma tsmukan," said Nusumea as he took over the knife. "You took a life. Now go and give a life."

The teacher-singer got up and nodded. He walked around the two ikrans who were now still, as if the passing of their brother or sister had affected them. Amhul had her hands on both heads and looked at him. There were tears on her cheeks but she smiled bravely.

As she let go of one of the ikrans, it slowly turned its head and looked at Puvomun who was slowly walking towards it.

"Mawey," he said, holding up a hand, "easy, calm now, it's going to be alright." In one hand he already held his queue, just to be prepared. It was all he could do, but it was not enough. Despite being weak, the ikran made a jump towards the teacher, launching a feeble attack. Puvomun jumped back, but as Amaya and Nusumea shouted, he dashed forward, barely evading the snapping jaws.

He threw his arms around the neck of the animal which then lifted him off the ground. Somehow he got hold of one of the extensions he'd have to make contact with, and he changed to let go one arm to regain possession of his queue. After a few tries and bounces, he succeeded.

Puvomun noticed that the ikran was getting weaker, its reactions slower. "Calm down, you," he muttered, "I am here to make you better, not to let yourself kill you." With effort he worked the end of his tswin up and forced it into the extension at the head of the ikran. And then the pain hit him.

The teacher knew he screamed, as the feelings of the ikran and his own flowed together. He felt where the wounds were, what was wrong with the animal and how it hated to be this way, bound to the ground. Puvomun fought the feelings, holding on to the animal, telling it in words and feelings that it was going to be well, that nobody would come to harm it anymore and - suddenly there was a peaceful, blissful sensation. The ikran stopped its resistance and stood silent, allowing Puvomun to touch it, stroke its neck and talk to it.

"Srane, srane," the teacher said. "You and I are friends now."

When he felt it was safe, he looked around the animal's head and saw Amhul, whose queue was connected to the ikran she was holding. For some reason, it had not resisted at all, it seemed. Her head rested against that of the animal, her eyes were closed and she was speaking soundless words...

[Puvomun]

8. Metal things

"Puvomun... are you feeling well?"

It took a while before the words of the healer-hunter reached the teacher's awareness.

"Oh. Yes. I am. But-" Puvomun searched for words "-we are not. It's hurting."

"We will look," Nusumea said as he slowly came closer. "Amaya will see about Amhul's ikran."

Not much later, Nusumea had used his knife to remove a few bullets from the body of the ikran. Puvomun was sweating, trying to keep the animal calm. The feeling of the knife going in was something they shared and it made the teacher feel very bad. But he remained upright, holding the head of the animal and suddenly most of the pain was gone.

"Stay," Nusumea Tirea simply said, and disappeared from view.

Amaya took the man's place quickly. "I have herbs," she said. "Nusumea told me which to take. They will help heal the wounds."

Puvomun understood that his friend was now working on the other ikran. He petted the large head. "We're fine. We'll be fine. It is all good, my friend."

The ikran was noticeably nervous as Amaya worked on the wounds with the herbs, but it was not so bad that Puvomun could not control it. He did hope that she would be done soon, though, as tsaheylu with this creature was very new compared to what he had experienced with any pa'li. The connection with Amhul was entirely different, of course.

"It is done," Amaya then said, and quickly went to work on the other ikran.

Puvomun startled when a hand touched his shoulder. It was Nusumea.

"You can let go of her now, ma tsmukan," the man said.

The teacher was confused for a moment. Then he reached up and gently released his queue from the connection. The ikran shuddered and shook its head, then gently bumped it against Puvomun's shoulder.

"He's a she?" the teacher then asked.

Nusumea grinned. "Yes, he's a she. And she will be fine. She is very strong. Look."

In his hand were four large metal objects. The things he had taken from the ikran. "I suspect they were all hit by the weapons of the aysawtute during the fighting, and could not fly on. She survived this for so long, she will be fine. I promise. Amhul's ikran had three of those, she will be fine too."

"Yes, yes. That is good," Puvomun agreed. Then he stared at his friend. "So we have ikrans now?"

"Srane. You have ikrans now. And soon you will be able to fly them. They will heal fast."

They walked to where Amhul was. Puvomun looked at her and smiled. She returned his smile.

"We saved them." It was all she could say.

"Yes, and they'll be fine," Amaya agreed. "We should go back now, and tell Mo'at what you did. She'll appreciate that."

"Go back?" Amhul wondered. "But what about our ikrans?"

"Tell them they will stay here for a while and that you come back as soon as you can," Nusumea suggested. "They will understand."

"Tell them?" Puvomun then understood. "Oh. Tell them."

The teacher singers made tsaheylu with their ikrans again, and told them. Then Amhul said that Nusumea and Amaya should head back to the village while she and Puvomun would hunt some food for the ikrans. They'd return as soon as possible.

Nusumea appreciated that idea.

"Look," he said, before they left. He was pointing at the leg of the dead ikran. "That is where the claw came from."

Indeed, one claw was missing from the paw.

"I wonder how they got here," the healer hunter said, "but we may never find out. We'll go to the village now. Follow back when you are ready."

-=-=-

Upon their return, they found Jake and Neytiri talking to several of the clan members. Mo'at and the others of the 'council' were among them.

As they joined the small group, they were brought up to date quickly. At the aysawtute base, some people had located a hidden link-up chamber. A place where Sky people would be in a machine to connect to their Dreamwalker body.

"The links are running, so we know there are people in there. So far nobody dared to break in the room because they are not sure what is in there, but they suspect that at least six people are linked. So there are at least six Dreamwalkers out there."

This was very strange news. All the Dreamwalkers so far had always been open about their going to places, why would these people be so secretive about this?

"There's more," Jake said, his face growing grim. "The people there discovered four avatar bodies that have been badly damaged. Max and his assistants are not sure if they can repair the damage. At least one of the bodies is beyond that, someone used an axe on it."

That news caused everyone to be silent for a moment. Who would do such a thing? More and more questions arose, and nobody had an answer to any of them.

"What they are doing now is keeping a guard at the door to the link-up chamber," Jake continued then. "At some point these guys have to come out of the links and eat and rest. That's going to be the easiest way to find out what they are planning, where they are, and if they have anything to do with the damaged bodies."

At that moment Jake's radio beeped. He talked into it, rapidly. Then he made an Inglisi sound that did not promise much good.

"That was one of the people from the base," he shared after ending the conversation with the person on the other end. "It seems that the six took a hostage. A Samson pilot. One of the tiltrotor choppers is missing, so they assume that pilot's forced to take the six somewhere. And they took one of the RDA boats along also, so their guess is they plan on something on one of the rivers."

"What can we do to help?" Tawtewng asked.

"Yes," Lolet exclaimed, "we want to do something!"

Neytiri replied: "We want some hunters to fly out to the clans that live along the rivers and tell them that there are Dreamwalkers in the jungle. And that we don't know what they are planning. The clans have to know this, so they can look out for them as well."

Puvomun understood that this would be a time consuming action. There were many clans living along the rivers, and there were many rivers.

There was however no shortage of warriors and hunters, so Tawtewng and Korun left the small assembly to round up enough people for this task.

"You have work to do already, Lolet," Jake grinned despite the situation. "Did you already get the bar in order?"

Lolet scowled. "You have to tell me what a par is, Jakesully. Then I can make it."

Jake roared with laughter, about a joke that only he understood. "I'll tell you later, I promise. And it is not as difficult as you might think."

Lolet did not look as if she was entirely convinced. "At least we have some kava now."

"Oh, that's great," Jake said, "that means you have most of the ingredients ready for the bar already!" He did not elaborate further on the mysterious 'par', though, so Lolet and all the others would have to wait.

"Right, so we have at least the issue with the missing Dreamwalker bodies partly solved. Now, what's this I hear, ma Puvomun and Amhul? Have you found some ikrans?"

The two teachers told the story, and added, for the others, how the wounds of the ikran had been treated. Mo'at looked satisfied with what she heard. Nusumea and Amaya added the parts that the teachers did not know.

"That's good, that's good," Jake nodded. "Two more who can fly is a good thing."

"We cannot fly, ma Jake," Amhul responded to that. "We have made tsaheylu, but the ikrans cannot fly."

"Not yet," Nusumea corrected her. "They will be able to very soon."

"Srane," Amaya added, "their wounds are not that bad. They were hindered by the ayu lefngap in their bodies."

Jake asked if they had these 'metal things' with them. Nusumea handed them over; he had kept them in a small pouch.

"Wow, those are serious rounds. No wonder the ikrans could not fly. Amazing they survived that," the Olo'Eyktan said, examining the metal things.

"One of them did not," Amhul said, her eyes sad.

Neytiri sat down next to her and hugged Amhul for a moment. "You did what you could. Two are still alive. We will go with you and look at them."

Amhul's face lit up with her smile. "Yes. We'll show you our ikrans."

"But first you will eat something," Mo'at intervened the talk. "And rest. Giving your energy freely to a wounded one is sìltsan, but you have to take care of yourself, Amhul. As will you, Puvomun. Now go, eat." Once again the teachers were sent off as if they were meveng, two children.

The two left the group. As they walked, Tuke, the old woman who knew everything about healing herbs, waved them to come over.

"Come. There is plenty to eat here. Sit and don't argue with me, I am too old for that," she said as the teachers came closer. Her words made them laugh. It did not take Tuke long to get them plates with food and leaf-cups with water.

"You two are crazy, you know that," Tuke went on. "Ayikran are for hunters and warriors, not for teachers. I have never heard of teachers flying like saronyu."

Word obviously had spread fast. Before either of the teachers could say something, Tuke continued. "In the old days things were different. Now so much is  new, changed." She looked at the two who speechlessly looked at her.

"Go on, eat, don't just listen! Or did that change too? Do I have to feed you, like a baby?"

The teachers laughed, as they picked up their plates and ate.

[Puvomun]

9. Tsko swizaw

Ekirä joined the two eating people. "I have heard about the ikrans!" she said, excitement in her voice. "How amazing! How did you find them? Where are they? Can we see them soon? Have you flown them yet?"

Ninat and Eyamsiyu sat with them as well, and added their fair share of questions to those of Ekirä, so Amhul and Puvomun spent quite a lot of time dividing their attention between eating and answering everything that was shot at them. To make things even better, a swarm of children descended upon them, yelling and asking even more questions.

Peyral looked worn out. She had been trying to keep the flock under control, which was about as easy as herding nantangs on a hunt.

"Can I have my hunting job back please?" she asked as she flopped down in the now quite large crowd. "I don't know how you do this. These little ones are cute, but..."

Yatwe, a young brat, pulled Peyral's queue, jumped and ran, laughing.

"See what I mean? Do they torture you like that as well- hey!"

The 'hey' was caused by one of the children having a go at Peyral's tail. She tried to slap the guilty party, but that had taken off already, laughing as much as Yatwe did.

"Wouldn't surprise me if Rakan's the father of that one," Peyral growled.

Her half fake, half honest anger caused amusement among most people and children.

Then Amhul told how she had found the ikrans, about going to find reeds for baskets and running into the clearing where the animals were.

Puvomun was not very happy about him and his mate being the sudden centre of attention. Yes, of course, it was something special that they now each had an ikran, but there were other things to consider. The normal things. And yet he could not entirely repress the sense of pride that they shared, Amhul and he.

"Don't talk so much," Tuke interrupted Puvomun's train of thoughts, "they are here to eat, can't you see? Not having their ears talked off by all of you. Have you nothing better to do?"

Nearly everyone came up with a more or less plausible reason to sit there. Peyral once more insisted she wanted her job back, Eyamsiyu wanted to talk about something he was making (Puvomun grinned, as he already knew), Ninat was there because she had to keep an eye on her mate, and Ekirä said she had everything prepared as Puvomun had asked.

"You never lost your job, Peyral," Puvomun told the huntress. "You are free to let the children run. Nobody told you to look after them, am I right?"

"Hrah," Peyral responded, "they wanted to ride pa'li so I let them." She grinned. "It was cute. But exhausting."

"She kept running with us all the time," one of the children cried out, laughing. "It was funny to see when we went faster, Puvomun!"

The two teachers laughed at that, while Peyral once more tried to slap the blabbermouthing child.

"I am always afraid that they fall," the huntress said to her defence.

"We're not," Amhul said. "They usually do it just once. That is when they learn to hold on and find their balance."

"That's good and fine. They're all yours, you have fun with their balance," Peyral said as she picked up some water to drink.

"So what did you ask Ekirä to prepare, ma Puvomun?" Amhul asked. She was curious, as usually he told her everything.

"Remember that I said I would ask her to give you lessons in shooting arrows? I did."

"You did not!"

"Oh, he did," Ekirä confirmed, "and I am all ready for you. Just let me know when you want to start."

Amhul fired a glare at Puvomun. "You..." Then she grinned. "You always do what you say." And to Ekirä she said that she would gladly take some lessons, after visiting the ikrans again.

"Oh, yes, good," said Ekirä. "I'll just come along when you go, then. With tsko swizaw, for protection." She grinned a wide grin, it was more than obvious she was as curious about the amazing find as all the others. "And later I will have a look at your bow. I think it is not the right one for you."

Meanwhile, Puvomun had turned to Eyamsiyu who calmly sat listening to all the talk.

"You have something to tell me, ma 'eylan?" the teacher asked.

"Oh, yes. Something you will like," Eyamsiyu said. "Remember the first party here, where we were all singing? Well, I started making new flutes. One is almost ready, and the second one is coming along quite well. There is some very good wood out here, ma Puvomun, and Virid'ian and Kalin Kato have been helping me a lot to get the shapes right."

"That is amazing!" Puvomun was really impressed. He had not expected that there would be two flutes already. And Eyamsiyu had another surprise.

"Kalin Kato also found a few gourd fields. We are making drums from two large ones."

"We'll have real music again soon," Ninat beamed, "it will be so wonderful when we sing again and the instruments are ready."

Puvomun and Amhul agreed. With instruments the singing would be even better.

Then a shadow fell over them. "Say guys, I'm sorry to interrupt this happy meeting, but I need to tell you something."

Jake did not sit down. "I just talked to someone on the base, and there's some complication there. I need to get my kxetse over there, and I'm taking Nusumea with me, so you're on your own again for a while.'

Puvomun was already on his feet. "What has happened?" he asked, knowing he would not be able to do something.

"Something about finding a note from the people in the link-ups," Jake said. "They asked me to come and talk things over. You're not up to flying yet, so you can't come."

Puvomun nodded.

Jake started walking away, then came back. "I don't want to push you, my friend, but I would appreciate it if you get to flying your ikran as quickly as you can. Looks like I'm going to need all the advice I can get close by for a while. Okay?"

"We both will, ma Olo'Eytkan," Puvomun said.

"What? Oh, yeah, that's me." There was the stupid grin again. It was followed by a hand on Puvomun's shoulder. "Just call me Jake. And take care."

"You too. Jake."

The clan leader jogged off, calling for Nusumea and Neytiri.

Puvomun sat down again. "I think we should finish our food fast."

Amhul nodded, she had heard Jake. Ekirä said she would be right back, and left, in search of her bow and arrows.

One of the children then crawled to the two teachers, sat down there and looked up at Puvomun.

"Ma karyu," the girl said, "they say you killed the sick ikran."

He looked at her, very seriously. "Yes. I had to. The ikran was in much pain, and it was not possible to make it well again."

The girl nodded. "So you sent it to Eywa." She seemed to think about that for a while. Then she smiled. "I am glad you sent the ikran to Eywa. Eywa loves ikrans, doesn't she?"

Puvomun smiled. "Srane, ma 'ewan. Eywa loves everyone."

"Even Palulukan!" Txetse exclaimed. This triggered the children to get up and start running around, shouting at each other and giving the adults some peace and quiet again.

When Ekirä came back, she asked what the matter was with the children as they were still making a lot of noise. The teachers rose and said they were not sure.

Ninat told them to go. "We'll keep an eye on them if there is a need. They have mothers too, so Peyral can have her job back."

Everyone laughed, including Peyral. "I was only teasing them," the huntress muttered, but she looked very relieved nonetheless.

"Amaya!! Are you coming?!" Ekirä called out. Her loud voice alerted Lolet as well, and as Amaya and Lolet came over, Rakan also appeared.

"I so want to see this," Rakan said, the anticipation of fun on his face.

"You will behave."

Rakan almost shrunk, hearing Mo'at's voice.

"Not the whole village should go along with them. Amaya as animal healer, Ekirä as she is a good archer. Lolet has experience flying an ikran, and so have you, Rakan, but if you make a problem, everyone has my permission to tie you to a tree. And forget you for a few days."

Amaya looked at Rakan. "These animals have been scared for a long time, and the last thing they need is a troublemaker. If you do anything stupid, I will hurt you."

"You don't scare me," Rakan muttered.

"But I do," Mo'at offered, and everyone knew she was right. "Now go."

With Amhul in the lead and Ekirä right behind her, the group set off into the forest, finding the high branches that would take them to the tree-bridge fastest. The trip was fast, and soon they were at the fallen tree.

Ekirä wanted to go first, to be safe. Amhul let her, but was right behind her, as she was very eager to be with the ikrans again.

There was no problem, so the group reached the small clearing. The teachers walked to their ikrans, and were greeted by them.

"Wou," Lolet exclaimed, "they are amazing."

"Odd colours," Rakan huffed, which earnt him a threatening look. "Okay, right, they're - uhm - ikrans."

Once the memaktoyu were with the animals, Amaya knew it was safe to approach them. She checked the herb patches and was very satisfied.

Lolet and Rakan slowly came closer, while Ekirä remained at a distance.

"You don't have proper rigs for them," Lolet said, "so riding them will be a bit difficult."

"Just a bit," Rakan giggled.

"Quiet, you." The slap followed quickly. Lolet then asked Amaya if the ikrans would be strong enough to fly.

"I think they are. But I am not sure. Maybe, if there is a way to see how strong they are..." the young woman pondered.

Lolet told the teachers to make tsaheylu and sit on the shoulders of their ikrans...

[Puvomun]

10. Lessons for teachers

It took the teachers some tries to get onto their ikrans.

"You'll learn to do that more easily," Lolet grinned as she saw the cumbersome stunts. "Don't worry about that now." She started giving some tips about how to guide an ikran in flight.

Rakan seemed to be affected by that and started to tell Puvomun while Lolet focussed on Amhul.

"Right, now if you sit stable, just relax and tell your ikran to spread its wings for a moment," the young hunter said. "But be careful, if the ikran feels pain, it has to stop. It will know that, of course, but you have to be aware of it."

Puvomun nodded and hoped he had understood. "Spread your wings, my friend, spread your wings."

"No, you don't say it," Rakan said, "you think it. As if they are your wings."

"Let Amhul try it," Lolet suggested, but Amhul was lost for a moment as well.

Puvomun closed his eyes and sensed what his ikran sensed. Then there was a sensation, a strange one. He opened his eyes and was just in time to see how the ikran retracted its wings.

It took Amhul a few tries, but then her ikran spread her wings also.

Amaya clapped her hands. "You are doing great!"

Ekirä came a bit closer now. "You will have to be careful when you fly, I think," she said as she looked up and around, "there is not much space here."

Rakan snorted. "That is easy. Just tell your ikran to fly and let it find its way. It is much better at that than we are."

Amaya looked at Rakan. "I think I have to faint now. You admit that there is something an ikran does better than you?"

Rakan was lost for words, and only when laughter was his share, he tried to defend himself, but all his attempts fell on deaf ears.

"Wait, wait, wait," Lolet shouted over the laughter. "There is something important you should know. When you reach Hometree, don't try to tell your ikran how to land on the branches at the top. Just tell it to land there, and let the ikran do the rest. It knows best." She looked at her mate. "Rakan is right."

Rakan looked less hurt after that.

"Usually it is easy to land, because then there is at least one experienced ikran maktoyu around to guide people, but we have no other way at the moment."

"Lolet, hold on," Rakan then said, "maybe we can do something. I can run back and fly out to come here. If they wait until you can see me, I can take them flying and help them get to Kelutral."

"You would do that?" Lolet asked.

"Of course. I am an experienced ikran rider, srak?" Pride was very present in Rakan, and here was his change to put it to good use.

"You are." Everyone agreed with that.

Rakan grinned and ran off.

Meanwhile the teachers were still on their ikrans, uncertain if they should sit there or not. Lolet advised them to stay where they were. "That way you are ready to try and fly when Rakan comes back."

"That boy surprises me time and again," said Amhul.

"Me too," Lolet shrugged, "but don't call him 'boy' when he can hear you. He doesn't like that."

Puvomun laughed. "We are koaka sute, old people, we can call him boy."

Lolet shook her head. "He still won't like it."

They talked a while longer, while Ekirä kept going around, as she was not familiar with this part of their new home yet. Suddenly there was a cry from above, and when they looked, Lolet recognised the shape and colours of Rakan's ikran.

"Hold on and think 'fly'," she reminded the teachers. "And not both at once!"

Her advice was sound as the opening towards the treetops was quite small, only one ikran would be able to go through it at a time.

Puvomun waited and looked at Amhul, but she was looking at him. He understood that she was going to wait for him, so he held on and thought the word.

For a moment his ikran did not seem to understand, but then a jolt of energy came from her. She spread her wings, jumped up. Somehow it did not work, but she jumped again and cried out, and then with powerful beatings of her wings, they were off the ground.

Occasionally Puvomun felt a slight strange pain, that was not his, but was his too. It flashed through his mind that he sensed the wounds of his ikran, but it did not seem to hold her back. He cried out and she cried along with him, and then they were over the trees. The teacher was in a rush after this experience, and it took him a while before he heard Rakan shouting that he should level out his flying.

Puvomun trembled as he told his ikran to fly close to Rakan's, and then he looked down, at the sea of trees below. And there was a shape coming up from a small opening.

"Amhul!"

Rakan laughed. "She can't hear you, she is too far away! Are you feeling well?!" The young man came a bit closer so they did not have to shout so much.

"Yes, we are fine, but I can feel the wounds are still a problem!"

"Oe tsleram, ma Puvomun, I understand! We will wait for Amhul to join us and then go home!"

Amhul showed remarkable control of her ikran, she was with the two others very quickly, and so they sailed around for a little while. Rakan decided then that they would return.

"Look where you want to go!" he yelled, "and then in your mind move towards it! We are going that way!" He pointed to the left, where the teachers saw their home tree rising high over the canopy of the forest.

It took the singer teachers a while to get used to directing the movement of their ikran, but once they understood the trick, it proved quite easy. Puvomun compared it to floating in a river without really swimming. Just the occasional moving of a hand or foot to adjust course was all that was needed.

When they reached Hometree, Rakan started telling them to fly around the tree once, so the ikran could see how it was arranged, and then they should just tell it to land there. The animals had obviously no need for this explanation. As Rakan yelled something, sounding very disgruntled, the two dove straight for the tree and found themselves a good perch.

Puvomun had thrown his arms around the ikran's neck as it had gone into the dive, afraid to fall off, but as the landing happened so swift and fast, he was half convinced already that his ikran would have been careful enough.

"Puvomun! Puvomun!" he heard from behind him. "I'm here!"

He slowly turned, the rush of the flight still coursing through his body, and saw Amhul, waving. He laughed as he saw her shining face and watched how easily she slipped off her ikran. He dropped himself to the wide branch also, while from a little bit further the sound of another ikran arriving rustled towards him.

By the time the teacher had broken tsaheylu, Rakan was with him.

"Irayo si Eywaru," the young man said, "thanks be Eywa. You scared me just now, who taught you that?" He really looked scared and concerned, something not many people were allowed to witness.

"We didn't, really," Puvomun said as Amhul crossed the short distance to them.

"Our ikrans were hurting," she simply said, "and they wanted to sit down as quickly as they could. When the others are back, I will ask Amaya to see if there is more she can do for them."

"Oh. I see. Yes. Of course." Rakan seemed to stumble over his words.

Puvomun then asked the young man if they had to do something for the animals so they could find food.

"No, they'll be fine. They'll find food enough here. We'd best go down then. And I'll ask Nusumea Tirea if he can make eye-protection for you."

"That is very considerate of you, Rakan," Amhul grinned at the man's back. "Thank you."

The teachers agreed that covering their eyes was necessary when flying an ikran. Then they laughed as Rakan make a snorting sound.

As they reached the forest floor, Rakan loudly exclaimed that he was relieved that the two beginners had not fallen off their ikrans and that they were lucky they had not missed the tree. Before either of the teachers could comment, he was out of earshot already, and they just laughed at the way Rakan was protecting his image.

They did not lack for attention though. Rakan's loud exit had made everyone notice their return, and quickly the two were surrounded by people asking about their ikrans, and if they could see them, and about the flight, and so much more.

"We first want Nusumea or Amaya to check the ikrans," Puvomun said, "so you will have to wait."

The sounds of disappointment were only few, mostly from the children. And they were promised they could see the ikrans soon. After all, teachers with ikrans was something entirely new.

[Puvomun]

11. Worries about dreamwalkers

The people who had to walk back from the clearing arrived soon. Ekirä carried a few animals she had shot, they'd be very good for a meal.

The first thing Lolet wanted to know was if Rakan had behaved, and she was pleased to hear that he had been a very good guide for the teachers.

"He can be good," she whispered, "he just doesn't want people to know. I don't know why he does that, but as long as he does the right thing, I won't get on his tail about it. I'll go find him and treat him to something nice."

These last words were not whispered very softly, so the people around, who caught them, snickered and cracked a few jokes.

Lolet glared at them, hissed in fake anger and then walked off, her head held high and her kxetse happily swinging left and right.

"Did your flying go well?" Amaya asked. She was visibly relieved, hearing that all had been fine. And she immediately wanted to check the animals as they told her about the slight uncomfort that the teachers had sensed from the ikrans.

"You first rest, Amaya," Amhul said, a resolute sound in her voice. "They are well, they will wait. You travelled fast twice."

"I'm fine, ma tsmuke, really. Come, we have ikrans to visit." Amaya ducked away from Amhul's hands as the teacher singer wanted to prevent her from leaving.

"You will have to do better than that!" Amaya laughed as she darted towards the core of the tree from where she went up to the high branches.

Amhul's ikran had lost one of the herbal patches, so Amaya replaced that. For the rest, she decided, they were doing well and just needed some rest and time to heal.

While they were caring for the animals, there suddenly was commotion in the air around the crown of Kelutral. Puvomun saw several ikrans fly round and find a spot to touch down. Only then he recognised a few of the ikran aymaktoyu who had flown out to the clans near the river.

As they came walking, they looked very surprised to see the teachers and two strange ikrans there, but they were too much in a hurry to ask about that. One of them did call out a warning that the teachers should be careful so high up.

Puvomun grinned and did not respond. Instead, they followed the flyers down to hear what news they brought.

Ateyo, one of the men who had returned, was annoyed that Jake was not there. "We have news from the Olo'payfya, the Clan of the Stream. We need to tell someone."

Someone pointed him to Mo'at, but Puvomun addressed Ateyo. "Jake put me in charge of things when he is gone. You will have to talk to me, I think."

"You?" Disbelief was all over Ateyo's face. "But you're a singer."

"And a teacher," Amhul corrected the hunter. "If you do not believe it, go to Mo'at and don't be surprised when she sends you back."

She emitted an authority that made Ateyo frown for a moment. "Very well. The eyktan of Olo'faypya told us that some of their hunters had found a dead 'angtsìk. They found the dead hammerhead after hearing a loud noise."

A dead 'angtsìk? Puvomun wondered who would be able to kill such an enormous animal, and also why someone would want to do that. Despite their size and fearsome exterior, hammerheads were mostly harmless creatures, grazing the grasslands.

"There were prints of many feet near the dead animal," Ateyo continued. "Covered feet of Dreamwalkers."

"Thank you, ma Ateyo, this is serious news indeed. Is there more you can tell?"

"Kehe. That is all they found. We told them to watch out, and let us know if they find more tracks of the aysawtute who did this."

"Sìltsan. Good. Irayo, ma Ateyo."

Puvomun went to Mo'at and discussed with her what he had just heard.

"I am not sure if I should try to go to Jake and tell him this," he admitted.

"From what Amaya says, this would not be good, ma karyu. Your ikran is not well yet, and you are not experienced in flying. You must wait for them to return, but you can think of options."

Think of options. It sounded simple, but... what options? Puvomun thank her and walked away, wishing his friend Nusumea was there.

As he pondered his options on the options, he passed a few children who were drawing silly patterns in the sand. The teacher stopped and watched them play. It relaxed him, and gave him some time to disregard the jumble that had gathered in his head.

The children paid him no attention, they kept playing, making straight lines and wiggly ones, circles and-

"Rolun," Puvomun said to himself. Eureka. He had an idea, thanks to watching the children. Now he needed an experienced ikran maktoyu to help him. This proved to be Ateyo.

"What can I tell you more, karyu?"

The teacher asked him to sit down as he started drawing in the sand and placed a pebble somewhere. "This is where we are. If this is the aysawtute camp..." -he placed another pebble- "... can you then show me where the Olo'payfya lives?"

Ateyo stared at the makeshift map for a while. Then he made a meandering line away from the home pebble. "This is the river. There is a clan here, and one here..." The hunter picked up a twig and stuck it in the ground next to the line he had made. "This is where the Olo'faypya are."

The two men reached the same conclusion. "The Dreamwalkers did not go very far during the time they are missing."

-=-=-

After the long awaited return of Jake and Neytiri, late in the afternoon, Puvomun and Ateyo were finally able to convey the news. Puvomun let Ateyo tell what he had seen and heard, then the teacher showed the map with the pebbles and the twig.

"Yeah, strange. They could move a lot faster, so they have something in mind," Jake agreed. "We found that the door to the hidden link-chamber is locked. That was not hard to open, the aysawtute said. Norm and some others were in there, and they found a note on one of the link-ups. Quite disturbing."

The olo'eyktan sighed.

"The note said that the six are on an expedition and we should not try to follow them. Nobody should, as they know what they do."

That caused discussion. Not many Sky people knew what they were doing here.

"But that is not the worst part. The note also said that they rigged two of the links. They have a bomb inside. Nobody is to open the links or stop the connection from outside, or they will blow up half the base and all people on it. Now we're not sure what kind of bomb they have, but as the mercenaries left, they did not take all their crap with them, so we have to assume they got something very nasty in there. They may even have a set of bombs linked up that go off together."

"But why would they do this?" someone asked.

"We don't know," Jake said. "We just have to be careful for now. The door is guarded, but there are some... complications."

He explained that the note had contained information about how the avatar drivers would come out of the link-ups two at the time, to eat and sleep, and also change the position of the bombs.

"Nobody is to be in the room, there just has to be food and some beds."

"What we don't understand is that they say they mean no harm. They just want to go on their expedition," Neytiri said, "and they feel that this is the good way to assure their safety."

"It makes no sense," Jake thought out loud. "If they want to go out on the surface, they could have just asked us. We could have taken them, helped them."

"And made sure they were safe, so they do not have to kill an 'angtsik," Nusumea Tirea said. He looked very upset over that.

"I'll get on the radio and tell them what you found out with your map. Maybe they can figure out why these idiots went there." Jake left the small assembly. After a few steps he turned. "Hey teachers. Good going on your ikrans!" Then he walked off.

The villagers talked a lot about the strange news that evening. Everyone agreed that it was good that the Dreamwalkers had not harrassed the Olo'payfya, although the senseless killing of the hammerhead was disapproved of by all.

The aysawtute on the base had reported back to Jake that there was nothing special around the area where the runaways had been, which made everything even more unclear.

Later that evening more people returned, from visiting the other clans. None of those had seen or heard anything extraordinary, but at least now as many Na'vi as possible were warned that they could run into six Dreamwalkers.

[Puvomun]

12. Par

As the clan was sharing a meal, Lolet and Rakan disappeared, after eating quickly. Puvomun saw them go, disappearing in the dark. He shrugged, they probably had plans of their own. He noticed then that Jake had seen the two leave also and was whispering to Neytiri who laughed at what she heard.

"They know something," Amhul voiced his thoughts. "But if Jake knows too, it can't be very bad."

Puvomun nodded, but did not feel completely convinced. After all, their new clan leader was Jake, and that man had been quite unpredictable so far.

A strange scraping sound reached the people who were gathered around the fire, making heads turn, and questions were asked. Alas, nobody gave an answer to these questions, although Puvomun was quite certain that Jake could if he wanted to.

"We'll find out later, I am certain," Amhul said as she reached for a piece of meat that looked as if it was waiting for her. "Lolet and Rakan are just the ones to ask if something strange has to be done."

"Oh, you are so right, ma Amhul," Puvomun grinned.

The scraping sound ended. A few heartbeats later a shock ran through the crowd as they all heard a high-pitched scream, which had to come from Lolet.

"Nothing wrong!" her voice sounded a moment after that, and all heard her laugh.

By then nobody was eating anymore. All people just sat and waited for more unexpected sounds. They were not disappointed.

After some more scraping and a loud curse from Rakan, which made many children giggle, there was tapping. While parents warned their offspring not to remember the word they had just heard, the tapping came and went, and came again.

Suddenly there was silence. This was perhaps even more worrying than the strange sounds that had been coming from the dark.

Amhul put her hand on Puvomun's arm and when he looked at her she said: "Taw." Her eyes were shining as she said the word.

Unvoluntarily he looked up at the dark sky. "What? Why do you say 'sky'?" he asked as he looked back at his mate.

"Taw. I will call my ikran Taw. Because she takes me to the sky." Amhul smiled, looked very happy and very beautiful to Puvomun as the light from the fire softened her features.

"That is a very beautiful name, ma yawne," he smiled back at her, feeling lucky to be with her.

"You need to find a name for your ikran also," Amhul said. Her last words were almost drowned in the noise that Rakan made as he and Lolet came back to the fire.

Puvomun just nodded, not wanting to make the effort of screaming at his mate. They stood, as all the others, trying to make sense of the weirdness that possessed Rakan. He was doing some kind of crazy dance around the fire, Lolet just as mad. They yelled "Par, par, par, par, par!" continuously.

Puvomun searched for Mo'at and Nusumea Tirea. Perhaps they could do something about these two. Before he could signal either of the two, however, Rakan stopped his insane behaviour and exclaimed that the 'par' was ready and that everyone should follow them. Uttering something that could be a war cry, the two ran off again, a stream of children right behind them who had taken up the "par, par" cry.

Jake was laughing loudly.

"See, I knew he had something to do with this," Puvomun nodded.

Amhul laughed. "Come. We will go and see what they did."

Hand in hand they followed the crowd that had already started to move into the direction.

It was not hard to find. A large new fire burnt scaringly close to one of the trunk-parts of Kelutral that went into the soil. Two torches were hanging from vines, which looked even more worrying. The light of the torches divulged a strange wooden board that also hung from a few vines. On the board someone had inscribed three indecipherable marks.

On the ground there were several large gourd jugs. The smell that came from them was undeniably kava.

"Welcome to our par!" Lolet shouted to everyone as she waved a cup. "We have kava, so the most important for the par is here!"

From somewhere behind them, the teachers heard Jake's laughter. The man roared so loud that Puvomun wondered how long the man could sustain that. Luckily it did not last very long.

Jake caught up with the group and, his arm around Neytiri's shoulders, he looked up at the sign. He laughed again and then said: "Not perfect, but I love it. Damn, we have the first Omatikaya bar on Pandora. This calls for a celebration!"

For a while the troubles around the Dreamwalkers were forgotten. Kava and other beverages flowed freely, songs started here and there, and then Eyamsiyu and two musicians arrived. Nobody had seen them slip away, but upon their return they carried a large flute and a drum.

Puvomun noticed that they had prepared this well, as they carried the large flute to a few smaller treetrunks from where slings hung. The flute was positioned in them, while the drummer took his instrument and sat down, starting a slow and steady rhythm.

The teacher caught Eyamsiyu's eye; the man's face was one proud smile as the second musician stood with the flute and evoked the first sounds from it.

Eyamsiyu had done a marvellous job, Puvomun thought. The sound of this flute was amazing. He then saw Korun and Ekirä standing close by.

Korun was pointing at the large flute and talking to Ekirä. Puvomun recalled how the young man had helped Eyamsiyu find the right wood for the flute. Apparently he had done more than just find and carry it, he thought with appreciation. That was good. Making flutes was a special and almost a sacred trade among the Omatikaya. It should not be forgotten or lost.

As the song of the flute grew stronger, the sound of the people's voices faded away while everyone was becoming enchanted with the music that danced with the beats of the drum.

Slowly the song from the flute changed, and Puvomun discovered the start to one of the First Songs. He took Amhul's hand and walked her to where the drummer sat. From the eyes of the flute player he saw that this was exactly what the woman had intended.

When Puvomun started to sing, Amhul joined in after the first words, and Ninat joined them almost instantly.

"Taw, the sky, where animals fly,
Klltxe, the ground, to which most are bound,
Kilvan, the river, the water, life-giver,
Txep, the fire, with flames growing higher,
Warming the people and bringing the light.

Nantang si 'angtsik, rìtì si pa'li,
All children of Eywa inhabit the world.

Ayutral, the trees, the homes for the People,
Pay, the water, the quencher of thirst,
Ayseze, the flowers, where beauty abounds,
Utu mauti, the fruit that we eat,
Yerik, the hexapede, giver of meat.

Nantang si 'angtsik, ikran si Na'vi,
All children of Eywa inhabit the world."

Everyone sang along with the changing chorus, leaving the verses to the clear voices of the singers. Even Jake, who had been so loud and boisterous just moments ago, was calm and sang the chorus without mistakes. Lolet and Rakan stood side by side, tails around each other, singing too.

The song came to an end and a silence spread over the people.

"Wou," Eyamsiyu said then. "I hope this did not kill the party spirit."

It took a while before people started grinning and talking again, as the impact of the song slowly ebbed away. Voices broke the quiet, conversations started back up, and kava and fruit juice were handed round to all. Txetse got his hands on a cup of kava by accident, but thanks to his mother that did not end in a drunk child, although the child was angry at the missed opportunity.

Puvomun and Amhul talked to Eyamsiyu, complimenting him on the wonderful flute he had made.

"Korun helped," the man said, shuffling his feet a bit as he was not one to take praise very well. "He did a lot of work."

"He had a good teacher then, I would say," Amhul said. "It is very very good. And the drum has a good sound also. Where did you find what you needed?"

"Oh, here and there, in the forest. Eywa provides, also for instruments," Eyamsiyu grinned.

"You worked very hard on those," Ninat overruled his modesty, "and very long too. You wanted the instruments to be ready and you did it. We are all proud of you. Now come, you have to drink something." The woman smiled at the teachers and dragged her mate away to one of the rapidly emptying kava jugs.

"She knows him well." Amhul's hand found Puvomun's, and he felt how her tail touched his.

"And you know me well."

"Srane. I do. I know you just want something to drink and then find some silence."

Puvomun just looked at her. She really knew him well.

"Wait," she said, and walked away. When she came back, she had two cups with her, handed one to him and then took his hand. They walked to the side of the river, leaving most of the bustle of the party behind them. It proved hard to get away from Rakan's outbursts, but those were only few.

In silence they sat there for some time. Then Amhul started telling about the things that had been worrying her for a long time. Many were just small things, and she knew that, but still, Puvomun understood that she had to talk about them, and he listened.

Each time Amhul talked about something that occupied her mind, he took a bit of grass, and in the end, when she had said all that she wanted, he held his hand up.

"What is that?" she wondered.

"Those are all your worries, ma yawne. I picked a strand of grass for each one, and those are all of them.  Now you have to find a flat bit of bark."

Amhul frowned. Puvomun could tell by the way her bioluminescent spots moved. Then she looked around and picked something up. "Would this be good?"

"Txantsan, excellent." Puvomun dropped the grass onto the bark, and holding her hand, he said "Come."

He stepped into the flowing water of the river. "Put the bark in the water."

Without asking why, she did so. The water took over the small patch of wood and took it away. Soon it was out of sight of the two people who then climbed back on the river side.

"Why was that?" Amhul finally asked.

Before Puvomun could answer, there was a gentle rustling of grass behind them. It was Nusumea Tirea.

"That is a little float that takes your worries away," the man said. "And, you know, ma Puvomun, there is something here you can learn too." Then he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Amhul asked.

"I don't know. But what did he mean?" Puvomun wondered about that more.

"Was he right?" Amhul asked, taking Puvomun's hand again.

"Huh? Oh. About the float, yes. That was what I intended it to be. Something to take your worries away."

"That is a nice thought, ma yawne... but you are my float. You take my worries away."

Puvomun smiled, appreciating her words. "But I am the kind that adds new ones."

"Then we will come here again and sit at the river, kilvan, and float together."

Then Puvomun understood what Nusumea Tirea meant that he could learn. At that moment he knew the name for his ikran. Kilvan. River.

[Puvomun]

13. Air recon

"Kilvan? What kind of silly name is 'River' for an ikran?" Rakan, despite his aching head, tried to talk Puvomun out of his choice. "Come on, Puvomun, there is nothing watery about that animal except when it pees. You can't be serious."

"I am, though. You float on a river and you float on an ikran," the teacher said without hesitation.

"Hrah. But on an ikran you can go fast!" Rakan held his head at his exclaiming, but persisted his point of view.

"A river has rapids too, ma Rakan. They are fast as well," Nusumea Tirea said. "I think it is a good name."

"'Koaka karyu' would be more fitting," the youngster muttered, feeling he was going to be overpowered as well as outnumbered. "You are an old teacher after all. OUCH!"

"Shut up, Rakan," said Lolet who joined the group. "No more insulting Puvomun or I will slap your head everytime I see it today. Oh, there you are." Another slap was Rakan's.

"Hey, I didn't say a word," Rakan complained.

"I'm just practicing," Lolet commented calmly.

"That is enough, children," Amhul said, her voice stern. "No more hitting each other."

"I didn't hit, she started," Rakan pouted poorly, but Amhul was not impressed.

"You have things to do, I am sure. Like gathering and cleaning the cups from last night?"

"You can't tell me what to do," Rakan countered.

"I am just reminding you, Rakan. And I invite you for helping with a lesson with the children, if the cups are too much for you."

The group laughed as Rakan got up and went his way, muttering about cups and old people who did not understand fun. The youngster muttered even more as he almost ran into someone but fell silent when that someone turned out to be the clan leader.

"What's wrong with him?" the Olo'eyktan asked with his usual flair. "His hangover got hung over?"

The puzzled looks that were directed at Jake did not tell him anything, but he did not seem to care very much. "I need a word with you guys," he said to Puvomun and Nusumea. "Did someone see Amaya? I may need her too."

People looked round, but nobody had seen the young woman.

"If someone spots her, send her to us, please."

Jake then took the two men to a silent spot. "Sorry to drag you away, but I had a talk with Norm at the base just now. A few of the - uhm - travellers woke up this night and showed themselves. They are well, that is a good thing. They have guns, though, and that's not so good."

"Guns. Weapons," Puvomun said, to confirm that he understood.

"Yup. Big ones, and they said they are not afraid to use them. Makes no sense, as there is no nantang or palulukan in that room. There is something very wrong there, and we have to find out what. And since the guys in these link-ups are not going to tell, we will have to find their uniltrrr... damn... Dreamwalker bodies and ask them."

"Uniltìrantokx," Puvomun automatically said, as he was used to correcting children.

"Whatever. Those, yes."

"Those what?" the clear voice of Amaya asked as she joined the talking men.

Quickly she was told the news.

"There are still people away, to other clans," said Jake, "so I will need everyone with wings to do air recon."

Three faces stared at him blankly.

"I mean," Jake said amidst a sigh, "that everyone who can fly will have to pitch in and do some flying around trying to find these people."

"Oh."

"And I'm sorry, Puvomun, but that means Amhul also."

The teacher singer took in a deep breath. "I understand, Olo'eyktan. I will talk to her."

"I can come with you if you want," Jake offered, but Puvomun said it would be fine.

As he walked off, he caught that Nusumea was asked to do some surveillance as well.

Amhul stared at her mate as she heard what Jake had asked. Her first words were: "But the children-". Then she rose to her feet. "I understand. But will our ikrans be well enough?" She recalled the pain they'd had the previous day.

"We should ask Amaya. Maybe she can have a look."

The two walked to Jake and Amaya. Nusumea had left, to do something, probably. Amaya, when asked, said that she had already examined the ikrans and they were well.

"Without us? Didn't they object to that?"

"No, they sort of trust me by now. They know I am not there to hurt them," Amaya grinned.

"But still, they are in the higher part. They won't come down to you, and you can't call them."

The teachers had already learnt that there was a specific sound they would have to make to call their ikran. Somehow they knew it, as if their ikran had told them.

"That's true," the animal healer agreed, "but I can climb."

Even Jake frowned at that. "You climb among all of them? You're insane."

"I've survived until now," was the calm reply.

"Are you ready to fly?" Nusumea asked the teachers as he returned. He held something in his hand. "Here, I fetched those for you. They may not be perfect, but they should help you."

As Amhul and Puvomun each took an object, they saw that it were eye protections. Only then they noticed he was wearing one as well. It was strange for them to put the things on, but with some fumbling and help it all worked out well.

"Ateyo will fly with you," Jake said, "I already talked with him about it. He knows where to go and not go too far. You are new in the air, and your animals need to recover. Good luck."

Before their clan leader could walk off to other business, Puvomun told him that they would first tell the children they would be gone.

"Maybe Ninat and Tuke can play with them," Amhul suggested, "I will go and ask them."

"I'll never get free of children," Jake uttered. "First they outsing me and now they are more important than air surveillance? I should never have gotten this job. Next thing I'm running the kindergarten here."

The teachers laughed as they walked off. It did not take long until they were walking up to the ikrans, where Ateyo and Nusumea already were waiting. They did not manage to work out between themselves what a kindergarten was.

Ateyo explained where they were supposed to go. "We'll go calm," he assured the teachers, "we are just looking. Just look around and let the others know if you see something  unusual."

That was easy and clear enough.

First Ateyo and Nusumea called their ikrans and after they had flown off, it was the teachers' turn. As they sat on their ikrans, with flying rigs this time, they looked at each other.

"Trust the ikran," Puvomun said, "just let it fly."

Amhul nodded, pushed the eyewear in place and held on. Taw, her ikran, cried out as it jumped off the branch.

Puvomun watched how they fell down at first, but quickly gained altitude again after Taw had spread her wings.

"Let's fly with them, Kilvan," he said. Then he thought it, and plummeted to the ground for a moment as well. Wind rushed in his face, and only with effort he managed the eye protection in place. He had forgotten that little detail.

The four ikran aymaktoyu lined up then, and in a gentle turn they set their direction, away from hometree.

Ateyo did not make the journey hard for the new flyers. "You will just fly on like this. We are going towards that point," he told the teachers while pointing towards a patch of open grassland. "Nusumea and I will scout over other parts, but we'll come back at times to make sure you are nìltsan, srak?"

"Srane," the teachers said. They felt fine with that option, as this was only their second time out with their ikrans.

Puvomun and Amhul looked around, in the air with the clouds so close suddenly, at the forest below them, that seemed to rush by at an incredible speed, and also at each other, sharing their delight.

A sound drew their attention upwards, where they saw a group of eight wild ikranay fly, high over them. The forest banshees, much smaller than their mountain counterparts, were not able to carry people, but they were very fast. Taw, Amhul's ikran, shouted its raw cry as her rider laughed at the sight of the animals.

Nusumea came back then, and asked how they felt.

"We are wonderful, ma tsmukam," said Puvomun, "but I am afraid we are not looking around at the ground as much as we should. There is so much wonder to behold when we are here."

"Of course," the healer hunter replied, "you are singers. You look at the world in a different way as well. We are coming closer to the river again soon, so please fly lower and look down a little more."

"We will, ma Nusumea, we will," Amhul assured him.

"Sìltsan," Nusumea said. "Ateyo will join you again soon." Then he flew off, sharply turning away and dropping to the crowns of the trees as if he was going to attack those. It showed how good an ikran maktoyu he was.

"Fly lower, ma Kilvan," Puvomun said and thought, as he patted the strong neck of his ikran. They descended, but not much.

"We must tell them how much lower, I think," Amhul suggested as she lower Taw to where Puvomun and Kilvan were. "I will try."

Puvomun watched her, and then she suddenly dropped down sharply. Amhul shrieked in surprise, and then Taw was flying stable and straight again, about four man-heights over the highest treetops. In a more orderly way Kilvan went lower, to fly next to Amhul, but not before Puvomun had made sure they were still going in the right direction.

"How did you do that?" he asked her when they were level again.

"I thought of being here. Well, something like that." Amhul's face still bore signs of the excitement that she had just went through. "And Taw responded very fast."

"I saw that. You scared me."

"Not half as much as I scared me, ma Puvomun," Amhul said. And she laughed.

[Puvomun]

14. Encounters

The two flew on, now more serious and dedicated to looking for things unusual. It was very difficult for them to decide what that would be, as most anything they saw was unusual for them from their position in the air.

Once they were surprised by a small flock of ayfkio suddenly emerging from the forest roof. The four-winged fish-predators with their long necks, large beaks and sharp teeth were however not interested in the two lone ikran riders. They just happened to go in the same direction for a while, flying slightly lower than the teachers.

When a wide bend in the river came into view, the ayfkio changed course and went down. Obviously that was where they had their fishing spot.

As the animals and their screams fell behind them, Amhul and Puvomun talked about that magnificent thing they had just seen. In their old home there had hardly been any fkio around, and here they had seen so many at once!

Ateyo and Nusumea then came back to them. Upon being asked, they said they had not seen anything that was alarming or strange. Just beautiful and breathtaking.

Nusumea laughed. Ateyo shook his head for a moment, but held back any remarks.

"We are close to the grass plains now," he said instead. "We will fly even lower there, but beware that there can be sturmbeests. If you see those, go up again. Just to be safe."

Amhul asked why that was, since sturmbeests usually were not considered very dangerous.

"They have many young with them now," Ateyo knew, "and then they are very protective. When they raise their head they can be much taller than you expect."

That made sense. After all, they were no hunters. Hunters would know things like that, and would be prepared to react faster. And, as Puvomun added, their ikrans were still not fully healed, which was also something to consider.

"Very true, karyu," Ateyo grinned.

The flight to the flatland was only short from that point on, and lower again they went. Amhul and Puvomun spotted many smaller animals in the grass. Some did not seem to care about the shapes racing over them, others jumped up and dashed off in all directions, which was almost too amusing to witness.

Ateyo and his ikran swooped up for a moment, then lowered to the level of the others.

"I see something," he notified them, "over there. We'll go up and have a look."

Puvomun was puzzled. How could the man have seen something far away, at this speed and flying so low? It had to be a trait of a warrior or a hunter, because no matter how much he tried, he saw nothing. Until they flew higher.

In the distance was the shape of an aysawtute flying machine. A 'Samson', as Jake called the things. And as the flyers came closer, they discerned a group of Sky people walking around as if they were looking for something. Could that be the ones they were looking for?

Ateyo however said these were other people. "The ones we look for walk around in Dreamwalker bodies. These are ordinary Sky people. Let's go and talk with them. Maybe they found something."

Swiftly they crossed the remaining distance. Their approach was not a surprise to the aysawtute, but that was what Ateyo had aimed for. They did not want to scare anyone, as they probably all were out here for the same reason.

Kilvan seemed reluctant to touch down in the grass, and only when she actually did so, Puvomun understood why. Landing on the hard ground was still painful. Just settling down on a branch in a tree was much smoother.

"Tam tam, ma Kilvan," he whispered, stroking the neck of the ikran. "Soon the pain will be over, and then you will be happy again." Only then he broke tsaheylu with her. He closed his eyes during that, as it always felt as a loss, as if something was taken from him.

The group walked towards the small people. Most of them were strangers to Puvomun.

"Hi," one of them said, who looked like the leader of the group. "My name's Archer. I assume you are here to look for the runaway avatars as well?"

Ateyo said: "Yes. We have been looking for them. We are flying along the river to find them but they seem to be somewhere else."

Archer nodded. "This forest is too big. We would not have that problem back on earth, but I wouldn't want to go back there. We'll smoke them out sooner or later."

"Smoke? How can smoke help you?" Amhul asked the man.

Archer laughed. "Sorry, it is a thing we say. It means we'll find them."

"Ah. Yes. We have to."

"There are some big markings here on the ground," one of the other Sky people said, pointing around. "Would you have any idea what made those?"

Nusumea and Ateyo had already seen the sturmbeest's marks and explained them to the small people. Again they issued the warning of the young and urged the men to stay close to their flying machine when a herd of aysalioang was near.

"Appreciate your concern," Archer said. "We're going to head out again and fly more west." He pointed. "Maybe we can find something there. Good luck, people!"

"Irayo, At'sha. Good luck for you, Eywa will watch over you as well," Puvomun said. It pleased him that they all seemed to know Eywa.

The aysawtute stood and watched as the Na'vi people walked back to their waiting animals. It was clear that they had not seen ikrans very often, if at all, because when the four flew up, the men all walked into the field to have a better view.

"We go further along the river," Ateyo decided. "Puvomun and Amhul will follow the stream again."

And so the teacher duo followed the stream, going further and further, crossing another plain where, much to their delight, they saw a group of sturmbeests drink. At one point they actually thought they had discovered something strange, but that proved to be just a discolouration of some shrubs.

"You two should go back now," Ateyo told the teacher scouts. "You are not used to flying this long, and your ikrans will appreciate the rest as well."

Amhul as well as Puvomun agreed. Their legs were starting to complain about being in the folded position so long. Then they faced a slight problem...

"How do we get home? I am not sure where we are now."

The other two laughed. "Just think of home and picture Kelutral in your mind. They will find it for you."

That was just too simple, but it proved to work. Before they had a chance to say goodbye, the ikrans had already picked up the mental image from their riders, turned, and headed back to the safe environment of Hometree.

-=-=-

In the village things seemed to be going their normal routine. Children were playing or singing, people were doing their usual work.

Jake and Neytiri were not there, so Puvomun and Amhul had time to relax after their long flight.

Amaya was not to be found either, but there was an unexpected visitor. It was Norm Spellman. He sat with Eyamsiyu and there was a halfway finished drum with them as well as a few seemingly unrelated items, as a small gourd and some sticks.

"No, wait, I am sure the gourd has the same function as the drum, it has to do something with the sound," Norm was busy explaining. "I'm no expert on this, but I think I got it." He tried to tie a piece of string to the gourd and the stick, but the stick jumped away everytime.

"Right. That didn't work," the man concluded his failed effort.

"Again." Eysamsiyu did not exactly encourage Norm. "Maybe there is something we miss."

"What are you trying to do?" Amhul said after witnessing the scene for a while.

"Oh, hello," Norm said as he stood to greet the two. "May Eywa- oh, right. Too formal again. I need more training."

His disarming smile made the teachers smile back.

"I'm here to talk to Jake, but he's still gone," Norm explained his presence. "And then I saw Eyamsiyu here, with this drum, so I thought I might help. Or at least watch what he does."

Eyamsiyu laughed as he continued working on the drum.

Puvomun picked up the small gourd. "This is not fit to be a drum, ma Norm," he said, judging the object. "I am not an expert either, but even an 'eveng can see that."

"Yeah, I know. I was trying to make this into... I dunno... a harp or so. Or a guitar."

"Kxì'tah?" Amhul frowned. "What is that?" She didn't even want to try that other word. Ha'p.

Norm got lost in a lengthy explanation of an 'Rrta musical instrument his brother used to play, with something like a gourd on one end, a stick attached to it, and thin vines or strings along the stick that made sound inside the gourd. The teachers listened to him patiently, while Eyamsiyu's face showed surprise and, at times, slight signs of despair.

"I'm not making much sense, am I?" Norm then said, as he noticed that his audience was not really following his description. "I'm sorry. Didn't hurt to try though." He looked a bit disappointed, but tried to hide that. Then he noticed something about the teachers.

"Hey, you have goggles."

This was impossible to pronounce. "Koh-kl?"

"Yeah, here, on your head." Norm pointed at the eye protection they had forgotten. "I thought only ikran flyers had those." His expression changed from wonder to faint understanding then. "Oh, no, don't tell me you have ikrans!"

Amhul and Puvomun started telling Norm what had happened, and as they did, Jake and Neytiri arrived. The two came wandering from the tree, but sped up their pace as they saw Norm and the teachers.

"Hey, Norm."

"Hey, Jake," said Norm. "They were just telling me- well, you know what. We got some disturbing news."

"What?" Jake demanded to know.

"They found the Samson pilot that was kidnapped to fly the avatars out. He's dead. And the Samson is a wreck."

[Puvomun]

15. Trust and arrows

"Where did they find the pilot? Any idea what happened?" Jake asked. His jaw was tense all of a sudden and anger radiated from every inch of his body.

"Somewhere south of here," Norm said while waving a hand.

"South?! What the hell were they doing there? We've been looking all over but not so much there," Jake growled, visibly displeased as he smacked a fist in a palm. "It is as if they are a step ahead of us."

As Jake and Norm talked, Neytiri asked the teacher singers what they had found, and if they were well after their long trip.

"We are fine, ma Neytiri," Puvomun said, "unfortunately we only found a group of aysawtute who were also searching for the ayuniltìrantokx."

"We're not sure what happened," Norm went on. "They're still working on the crash site. It's not really far from here, we could get there by horse..."

"Right." Jake frowned as he thought.

Neytiri nodded to Puvomun's words. "Good. We heard they are looking too."

Jake was not surprised the teachers had not discovered much.

"Ateyo and Nusumea will return soon," Amhul said. "Maybe they found more."

"I doubt that," Jake said. "This is just weird. Norm, you, I and Neytiri will go and see if there's something near the Samson. You two stay here and do... something. You've done enough for today I think."

That was for Puvomun and Amhul.

As Neytiri said that she was going to find fa'li and walked off, the teachers said that they would do more if it was needed. Then Jake and Norm made their way to the spot where the horses were as well.

Before the three rode off, Jake came back to Puvomun and Amhul. "If one of the other groups come back and they have important news, see if you can find someone to tell us, will you? South. That wat." He did not wait for a response as he pointed. He turned the pa'li and rode off, disappearing into the woods quickly, with Neytiri and Norm in the lead.

"At least we know which path they took," Puvomun said as he took the eye protection from his head. It had been there so long that he didn't even notice it anymore. Amhul followed his example. Then they went to entertain some children.

"Ah. You are back."

The children had just finished a numbers game as the voice spoke out. It was Ekirä. She held two bows and a handful of arrows.

Amhul looked at her mate. "Do you have anything to do with this?"

"Only my promise," the teacher singer laughed, "But I think this time it is serious."

"Yes. It is. I am going to take the teacher away and she will be the student for a while. Here, this is yours." Ekirä held a bow out to Amhul.

Amhul rose and inspected the bow. "No, it's not. Mine has small feathers at the top."

Ekirä grinned. "We can put your feathers on this one, if it works for you. Puvomun showed me your bow, and I was right, it is not good for you. Too long and too heavy. That is why I made this one for you."

The children laughed at the surprised face of their teacher and Puvomun told the women to go and do their dangerous practices elsewhere.

"I am not that bad at shooting!" Amhul exclaimed at him, causing the children to laugh again, even harder. After all, there was nothing more fun than seeing squabbling teachers!

"Puvomun," one of the boys asked as Ekirä led Amhul away, "do you have to shoot people when you fly?"

"No, we don't have to. We just fly, and we look around."

"Oh." The boy looked a little disappointed.

"Why do you ask, little one?"

"Rakan says that it is important that you can shoot people when you fly."

"I think it is more important to know when you have to shoot people," Puvomun said. "Shooting someone is not so difficult, but telling someone that you shot the wrong person is."

The children pondered over that for a while and even the arrow-happy boy had to agree that this was true.

Puvomun knew that he had to do something cheerful now. It was not good sending the children away with such gloomy thoughts, so he told them to race to the river where they would go swimming. That proved a great idea.

A lot of splashing soon was heard in the village, mixed with shouting, laughing and outbursts of war- and other cries. Puvomun was in the midst of all this, and occasionally picked up one of the children and threw him or her away, evoking even more cries of joy. The queue of children waiting to be thrown never seemed to lessen, until he was so tired that he was breathing hard as he made his way to dry land and lay down, laughing.

Some of the parents had come to watch the spectacle and laughed as well, pointing at their offspring having fun.

Suddenly a man pushed forward. "Puvomun. You are wanted."

"Huh? Why?" the teacher said as he hoisted himself on one elbow.

"Tawtewng has returned, and he is asking for you." The man looked in a hurry. "He's hurt."

Puvomun jumped up. "Please look after your children," he quickly told a few parents that were close to him, and then he rushed along after the man who had come to warn him.

When they came close to the tree, Amaya and Mo'at were kneeling down with Tawtewng, who had a big wound on his right shoulder. The women worked quickly and very skilled.

"Puvomun..." Tawtewng stammered as he talked. "I think we found them."

"We? You are alone. What happened?" Puvomun asked.

"We were at the Hellfire plateau, Atrutey and I, when we saw a tawtute boat on the-"

Tawtewng yelled for pain as Amaya closed the wound and pressed down hard on it. The next moment the warrior passed out. He would not be talking for a while.

Amaya looked up at Puvomun. "I'm sorry," she said, "I'm afraid you missed something important now?"

Puvomun waved a hand. "That's fine. Don't worry. Take care of him." He got to his feet. "I need a horse and find Jake to tell him this. Tell Amhul where I am when she comes back." He paced off to where he could usually find pa'li.

"Where is Amhul?" Amaya yelled after him.

"Tsko swizaw practice with Ekirä," he replied, then picked up his pace.

Soon he was on horseback and rode along as fast as he dared. Hellfire plateau, Tawtewng had said. That was to the south, yes, but not straight south. The river was took a bend to the west first. It was wide at the plateau and there was a huge lake that led on into three or four new rivers that went in all directions. That was all he knew from the tales that ikran aymaktoyu had told after their flights over the land.

At certain places Puvomun had to slow the horse down to a speed he could easily do on foot, but the undergrowth there was so dense and treacherous that he did not dare to make the horse go faster. If it fell and hurt itself, then he'd have a serious problem.

After a few of those delays the path was open again and he could press on until he reached the site where the Samson had crashed.

The spot was hard to miss. Many of the large trees had deep scrape marks on them, and along a clear path smaller trees and bushes had been chopped down or cut off. Something had fallen down in a strange way and at a high speed. Slowly he eased the horse forward, and when he heard voices the teacher called out Jake's name.

"Puvomun? We're here!"

That was not very helpful, as the teacher could not see where 'here' was, but the sound at least gave him some idea where to go. As his pa'li broke through the last bush, he saw Jake and Norm, together with several aysawtute who were all over the Samson flying machine. Neytiri was around somewhere, but invisible.

Puvomun slipped off the horse and broke tsaheylu. He sharply noticed the difference now between the horse and Kilvan, his ikran.

"What's the news?" Jake asked in his direct way.

Puvomun told him about Tawtewng and the words he had spoken.

Jake said a very nasty word, in Na'vi. He was good at those.

Neytiri appeared behind the teacher. "I found a few footprints of shoes. They moved something heavy, the trail ends in the river."

"The boat, I bet you a cold one," Jake muttered in Inglisi. "Hey Randolph, we're going to check further downstream. Puvomun just told me that they've been sighted at the Hellfire plateau. And the bastards apparently killed one of my people."

One of the sawtute came closer and nodded. "Okay. I assume you go get your fly-beasts?"

"Ikran, man, not fly-beast. And yes. It's faster and better from the air." Jake did not seem to like the man a lot, Puvomun noticed.

The other ayfa'li were a bit deeper in the forest. They were collected soon, and the group went back to Kelutral, while Jake asked as much from Puvomun as he knew about what had happened. Unfortunately Puvomun did not know more.

When they came into the village, Nusumea and Ateyo had also returned, as had several other hunters who had been away. None of them had found anything, which was hardly surprising. All of them however had heard about Tawtewng, and that Atrutey had probably not survived whatever had happened.

Tawtewng was still unconscious, which did not improve matters.

"Ma Puvomun..." Amhul slipped an arm around Puvomun's. "Where were you?"

In a few words he told her, as he also tried to catch what Jake said. "How was tsko swizaw?" he asked her then.

"It went well. I think. Ekirä does not agree, but..."

Despite the situation Puvomun had to grin.

"Right, so we know they definitely were at the Hellfire plateau," Jake started. "Are there any clans out there that we know?"

"There are two, Olo'eyktan. The olo'utri, the tree clan, and also the olo'ramtsyìp, the hill clan."

"Right. I need four people, two pairs, to go see these clans and find out if they saw these maniacs. And I need a few to come with me and check out the plateau. Because I sure as hell wouldn't know how to get there."

Ateyo and Nusumea suggested that Puvomun and Amhul should join them and visit the clans. Lolet and Rakan would fly with Jake and Neytiri.

"Don't worry," Nusumea Tirea said, "your ikrans will be fine." He had already seen the slight worries on the faces of the teacher singers. "And so will you."

Amhul would fly with him, to visit the hill clan, while Puvomun would go with Ateyo.

"You have to bring your tsko swizaw," Ateyo warned them. "We are going to where these ayuniltìrantokx are, we may need to defend ourselves."

As they walked to the tree to get their things, Puvomun urged Amhul to take the bow that Ekirä had made for her. "It is better for you, trust her."

She looked at him. "I trust you, ma yawne."

[Puvomun]

16. Meeting other clans

Everyone met in the top of Kelutral.

Amaya was there as well, to the teachers' surprise. The young woman explained that she had examined Tawtewng's ikran, but there was nothign wrong with it. "You are flying again?" she then asked.

"Yes. Jake needs us."

"Oe tsleram. I understand." She looked at Nusumea Tirea. "I would rather you stay here. We may need you, with Tawtewng."

The healer hunter shook his head. "Mo'at and you are capable. You don't need me."

The screams of ikrans pulled at their attention. Jake and Neytiri were already in the air.

"We should go," Ateyo said, and went to call his ikran.

-=-=-

They flew the first part together. The teachers were kept in the centre of the formation, which was the easiest position according to Ateyo. Not many words were spoken.

As they flew over the spot where the Samson had gone down (no one had yet any reason) they could clearly see the devastation. Tiny men were still scurrying around the machine.

"There," Neytiri pointed, "that is where I saw the marks go into the river."

The entire group dove and then, in single file, flew over the water to see the spot. It was hard to miss, something big had been shoved around there. Many plants had been damaged or trodden on.

"They are not Na'vi," Amhul said, loud enough for Puvomun to hear, "they have no respect. They killed their own world, and now they want to kill ours."

Puvomun did not respond, simply because he feared she was right. Many of the intruders had gone back to where they had come from, and the ones who were still there had been chosen because they did not share the beliefs of the destructors. Or so they had said.

The formation took to the sky again and continued its journey, high over the treetops. And again the teacher singers were in awe of the new beauties that they were allowed to witness from up here.

The sturdy, high trees, now looking so small, and the glistening ribbon that was the river, meandering through the landscape as a snake. There were surprising large flowers in the tops of slender trees that had barely a branch, and occasionally there were all kinds of coloured birds rising up from the forest roof in large flocks, chirping in a cacaphony of sound that made Amhul try to sing along, which in turn made Puvomun laugh.

Neytiri also laughed, as did Nusumea and Lolet. Ateyo and Jake did not get further than a grin. Rakan only muttered about childish behaviour and this not being a place for singers.

Then, in the distance, the bulk of the hills came into view. The hills were adjacent to the Hellfire plateau, which had earnt its name because of the many Hellfire wasps that swarmed over the water there every hot season.

"We should now go in groups," Rakan said. Ateyo agreed.

Two pairs split off from the formation. Amhul and Nusumea only had to change their course slightly, the hill clan lay almost straight ahead. Puvomun and Ateyo diverted to the east. They had to go around the hills, for the forest clan lived behind those.

Puvomun had one more look at his mate, who seemed focussed on her flying. Silently he asked Eywa to watch over her just a bit more, and then he too focussed on the flying.

As they crossed the lower part of the hills, the two flew as low as they dared. If there were any signs of the stray uniltìrantokx, that was the only way to find them. But there was nothing but rough, sandy rock, cracked here and there, pointy and sharp in other places.

"We go over the trees," Ateyo warned Puvomun. "There is nothing there."

As they were over the lush green of the trees again, Ateyo told Puvomun to keep an eye out for arrows and other flying things that might come up from among the trees. After all, they did not know what weaponry the runaway aysawtute had with them.

But no matter how hard they tried and stared, there was nothing but the normal plant and animal life under the leaves.

Ateyo pointed at a group of lower trees with branches that stretched out very far. "That is where we are going. We should not land our ikran in those trees, it will offend them."

"They have no ikrans?" the singer asked.

"No. They have hì'pa'li, small horses. Good for this area of stone."

The two circled around a few times, to give the members of the forest clan ample time to notice their arrival. This also gave them time to locate a good tree where the ikrans could touch down. as Puvomun expected, they left that part to the animals, after just telling them where the riders wanted to go.

Ateyo would do the talking. They had agreed that as they descended to the forest floor. "But keep a watchful eye, ma Puvomun."

As they were under one of the extreme branches, two men and a woman of the forest clan fell down to the ground from them, landing as lightly as if it was nothing.

"Who are you?" they asked, not in an unfriendly manner.

Ateyo introduced them, and asked if the clan had seen or heard anything strange in the last day.

The man that spoke for the clan tilted his head, something Puvomun saw him do everytime before he said something.

"My name is Ongpre. This trrtxon... Yes. There were strange things. We heard mepxora'pam. Two loud explosions."

"And when was that?"

"Just after the sun was highest. Why do you ask?"

Ateyo conferred with Puvomun, who had been warned of Tawtewng's return. From what he could judge, that should be correct, assuming that the explosions had happened around the time that Tawtewng and Atrutey had been here. Then he told the three about the search they were conducting for six men.

"But you don't know where it was?" he then asked.

The man confirmed that. He had heard the noise, some people had gone out into the forest to look for something, but found nothing. And nobody.

"When we see these six men you mention, what can we do?" The man clearly was warming up a little. "We have always been friends of the Omatikaya."

"Be careful around them," Ateyo advised them. "If you can, keep watching them and where they go. And try to inform the Omatikaya. These men can be very dangerous and unpredictable."

The man nodded. "I understand, and we will tell the others. Where will you go now?"

"We have two other groups looking for them, one went to the plateau and the other went to visit the hill clan. We will join the ones on the plateau."

"I see. We wish you well, ma aysmukan. Fly with Eywa."

"Eywa aynaghu, ma aysmuk," Ateyo said.

Puvomun repeated the words and then followed Ateyo as he started back to the tree where their ikrans waited.

In the relative silence that surrounded them as they walked, Puvomun thought of Amhul. If the explosions had not happened here, they had to have happened where she was going. His heart skipped several beats and suddenly he was in a hurry to reach Kilvan and get airborne again.

Ateyo didn't say anything, he just walked as fast as the singer.

"Do you want us to go to the hill clan, instead of the plateau?" Ateyo asked as the ikrans gained altitude to take them over the highest part of the rocky tops.

Puvomun's heart screamed 'yes', but his mind told him that it was not the plan. "Kehe. We should join Jake and the others. Amhul will come there as well. Maybe they are already there."

"Good. I am glad you are sensible, ma 'eylan." Ateyo looked satisfied.

Puvomun understood that his flight partner would not have gone along with the alternate idea.

They flew over what looked as a dry and desolate land. Puvomun knew there was a lot of life hidden in the caves that permeated these hills. Long tunnels, like branches of an unseen tree, were famous in even a few songs. Infamous rather, as someone could easily get lost in them and never come out again. Only the people of the hill clan that lived here, and nobody really knew how many members it had, was able to navigate the dark tunnels.

Puvomun wondered how much their singers knew about all these places that were hidden in the dark. Would they walk them themselves, with their teachers?

All his pondering and thinking made that Ateyo startled him by yelling the teacher singer's name.

"Puvomun! Are you sleeping? They are there," the man called out as he pointed to a spot below.

The teacher apologised. "I was thinking of things," he told Ateyo, "and got lost in them."

Ateyo shook his head, but he laughed. "You are not a hunter nor a warrior, I know that, but please stay alert, my friend. This is not the time to dream. I do not want to be here when you do the same thing that Nusumea Tirea did to Rìk."

Puvomun's heart jumped for a moment. Had it been that bad? His hand slipped over Kilvan's neck for a moment, and he projected gentle good feelings to his ikran. She responded with a feeling of satisfaction. Things were well.

"I will be more attentive from now on, Ateyo."

The two ikrans sailed downwards to where a small flock was sitting near the water. Puvomun recognised the coloured spots of Seze, Neytiri's new ikran.

"Be careful, ma Kilvan, the ground is hard," Puvomun whispered and though, remembering how painful the last time on solid ground had been. Kilvan cracked a short sound, as if to acknowledge what her rider had said.

Touching down involved more wing action than Puvomun had seen so far, but there was almost no bad feeling this time. In his heart he smiled. His warning had perhaps helped.

He slipped off the strong animal's back, patted her neck and beak and only then broke the bond. Looking around, he did not see Taw, so he quickly went to join the people who were sitting and standing.

Ateyo was already telling them what little they had discovered.

"That was a fail then," Jake said. "We found several tracks here. Nothing much, there's barely any sand. There are some scratch marks back there, must come from where they landed their boat. There's a stack of rocks too, probably put there to tie up the boat. We're waiting for Nusumea and Amhul to return, so make yourselves comfortable."

[Puvomun]

17. Scouting the lake area

Time went by agonisingly slow for all those who were waiting. Some people walked around, trying to find more evidence of the runaway Dreamwalkers having been there, in vain looking for a clue what they had done or wanted.

Finally the cries of a few ikrans alerted the waiting ones. Two approaching ones meant an end to the wait.

Puvomun watched as they came closer and landed, and he ran over to Amhul, just to be near her and make sure she was well.

Everything was fine with them, but they brought very disturbing news.

"We arrived at the clan's main dwelling," Nusumea started to tell. "We could already see there was something wrong, as there was a large black hole near it. When we reached the ground, we saw blood there. It took a while before we found the clan, they were all hiding in their caves. It was difficult for us to make them talk to us, they were very afraid."

The Dreamwalkers had arrived near the hills, in the boat they had taken from the camp. There were only five of them in it, where the sixth one was nobody knew. After securing the boat, they had walked up to the hills carrying several large boxes, Nusumea had heard from the hill clan members.

The men had drilled a hole in the rocky ground, near the opening of one of the caves. The opening was pointed away from the lake, though, the ayuniltìranyu could not see it. The hill people however had watched every move that the Dreamwalkers made, but as they did not know what the men were doing, they kept a safe distance.

"That is a problem with these people," Lolet remarked. "They live so separated, so alone."

Then the clan members had seen how one of the Dreamwalkers had pushed something in the hole they had made and then the ones near the hole ran away. Shortly after that, there was a loud explosion.

"The clan leader told us that parts of their homes started caving in. Many were wounded, and there were deaths too. Some of them were chlidren." Nusumea Tirea looked very sad as he told about that, and his feeling spread among the listeners.

"It was then that they decided to go outside and warn the Dreamwalkers. Too late, but this can not be changed. As a few of them walked over to the five men, one of the Dreamwalkers shouted at them, speaking a language that nobody understood."

"Oh no," Jake moaned. "These idiots don't even speak the language."

Puvomun saw how the man's jaw tensed up again. It gave him a determined but also grim look.

"Then they told us that the men who had gone to the strangers stopped walking," Amhul picked up where Nusumea had left off. "The stranger who had shouted dropped himself to the ground again, and then a second explosion happened. The people from the clan were close to the place where the explosion happened. They died immediately."

"It was their blood we saw," Nusumea said, his shoulders sagging.

"And then?" Jake urged them.

Puvomun saw tears on the cheeks of his mate as he put his arm around her, and also Neytiri was crying, despite her attempt to maintain a stone expression. Amhul pressed her face against his shoulder.

"There was panic in the caves. More walls collapsed," Nusumea said. He clearly had difficulty relaying the story as it affected him. "People left the tunnels as fast as they could, trying to stay out of view of the strangers. Then they saw a few people on ikran approach over the lake."

"Tawtewng and Atrutey," Rakan said, his voice cold.

Nusumea nodded. "They attacked the ayuniltìranyu with tsko swizaw, but these were no match for the weapons of the Dreamwalkers. The intruders shot with something that killed one ikran and its rider in a bright flash over the lake, and the other ikran maktoyu was hurt and fled."

Nothing was said for a while, as each one in the group needed time to deal with all this terrible news.

"The Dreamwalkers gathered some stones then, got into their boat and left."

"Did they see where these lunatics went?" Jake asked.

"Away over the lake. There was too much pain and danger in and around the caves to deal with, nobody watched where they went."

"Crap. That means they can be anywhere by now." Jake slammed his fist in his palm again. "Is there something we can do for the people of the hill clan?"

"They need medicinal herbs and a healer," Nusumea said, "their healer was killed in the cave after the first explosion."

"Damn." Jake's face showed that he was thinking very fast. "Right. Lolet and Rakan, you go with Nusumea Tirea, back to Kelutral. Grab what you can find of herbs and then take that to the hill clan. Nusumea, you stay there and take care of the ones that need you. Lolet and Rakan will help where they can."

"But-" Rakan started to argue.

"No. Go now." Jake's look made Rakan step back.

"Srane, Olo'eyktan."

The three left the group and soon were in the air, on their way.

"Now this is a pretty big lake," Jake said to the remaining people. "It's probably madness to fly around it, or to split up on two groups and scout half of it each. And it's getting late too. Can we cross the lake from here, and track back along the other side of the river?"

The question hung in the air for a moment. Then Neytiri said: "It can be done." Ateyo nodded.

"Right. Let's do it."

As the group walked to their ikrans, Jake determined how the formation would look. The teachers would each be flanked by more experienced riders, and they were urged to shout when they had any kind of trouble.

Puvomun admired the clan leader for this. The fact that he thought of that while there was so much else, so much more important and urgent to deal with, made him a good leader.

They took off and in formation they flew over the lake.

Puvomun thought of Atrutey and his ikran as they crossed the water, and whispered one of the prayers and a song for their spirits to join Eywa. It was not much, but it was the least he could do. Somehow he knew that Amhul would do that as well. And Neytiri too.

The flight was long and monotonous, as more and more water passed underneath them, but finally there was land on the other side. Light was already beginning to fade slightly, and Puvomun wondered how they would get home. It had to be dark by then. He also worried about Nusumea and the other two. They would have to find their way to the hill clan in the dark.

Once they had reached the other side of the lake, which was a sandy strip of land littered with rock and boulders, they flew low over it, trying to find traces of people there, or even a boat, but their search was in vain once again.

Ateyo suggested they should fly over the forest. Maybe the uniltìranyu had made a fire, or a camp that was visible from high up. Jake thought that a good idea, so the group changed their goal and flew over the inland. From where they ended up, Puvomun could still see the lake for quite a while, as well as the hill on the other side.

Puvomun and Amhul did a lot of the looking down to find a camp or a fire, or anything else that betrayed the location of the ayuniltìranyu, while Jake and Neytiri made sure there were no things being fired at them. That, as Atrutey had unfortunately found out, was still a serious threat. Ateyo and the others divided the scouting and the watching out, as well as looking out as far as they could, in case they missed something that way.

Darkness set in. The world below them turned dark as the ikran flyers worked their way up north again, looking still. At a certain point Jake told them that they had to give up, as there was nothing more to see.

"We will go back home now, guys, this is not getting us anything anymore. We'll go out again tomorrow, maybe there is better news from Norm or one of the others."

As they journeyed back to Kelutral, the forest came to light. All the plants and trees, and the flowers of the night started to shine their gentle glow that was so magnificent to see when walking on the forest floor.

Puvomun and Amhul, flying next to each other, were speechless as they saw the beauty of their world from this high up, as the dazzling display of enchanting patterns unfolded along their flight path. At a certain point they flew over the river again, and also there the spectacle continued. Many many anemonoids set the river alight, and the dance of the fan lizards, as they moved around, made for short and unexpected flashes of light in the forest, along both riversides.

Both teacher singers were ready to fall from their ikrans from exhaustion and hunger when finally their home tree was near. They had not seen it, it was Lolet who pointed it out to them. With all the light that came from the forest, the two had not seen the light of the fires.

"Find a nice place in the tree, my friend," Puvomun told his ikran one more time, and a sensation of appreciation came to him. He smiled. Soon they would be on their feet again, Kilvan and Taw would be able to feed and rest, and tomorrow there would be a new day.

[Puvomun]

18. Some people die twice

Puvomun was acutely aware of his mate lying with him, her tail over his legs, and her gentle breathing,  as he woke up. Nobody had called them yet, so he decided to lie still and enjoy the serenity of the morning, Amhul's presence and the scents of the forest.

He could not remember most details from the previous night. They had come down, there was food, there had been a lot of talking and when they had climbed up to their nivi, he and Amhul had both suppressed remarks about the pain in their lower bodies. The long time they had spent out on ikran had not left them unmarked, even when the marks were not visible from the outside.

The teacher singer wondered how it would feel to start moving. He had his doubts that it would be as painless and effortless as usual.

When Amhul moved and turned, he startled, deep as he had been in his thoughts.

"You are awake," she said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Srane, oe lu."

"Did I wake you?" she whispered.

"No, you didn't. I was already afraid that I had woken you up."

"You did not. I slept very well. But my legs... they hurt." Slowly she stretched her legs again, and moaned.

"You are brave, ma Amhul," Puvomun said, "I have not even tried that." Of course he had held back on that as he had not wanted to disturb her sleep.

"Then be brave now, ma yawne, I don't want to be the only one who hurts," Amhul invited him.

For a while they lay hurting together, until Puvomun wondered why there were not more people around, waking and making noise. He pulled himself up onto the branch and was surprised to see that only they were still up there. All the other aynivi were empty.

"Amhul... We may have overslept a little."

"Oh?"Amhul climbed from the hammock as well and then said: "Oh!"

They hurried down to find many hunters gone, most other people going about their daily chores and far off, near the large field, several people were entertaining the children.

Puvomun looked around once more, to be sure they had not missed anything, but the scenery remained the same. With the small difference that Tuke came to them.

"You are awake. That is good," the old woman said. "I've been waiting for you."

"Waiting?" the teachers asked.

"Yes. To see when you woke up, so I could bring you your food." With that simple and very unfullfilling message Tuke turned and walked off to a small fire. As she reached it, she turned and called: "What are you waiting for? I am not bringing it to you."

Still unsure of what was going on, and why they had not been warned to fly out again, the two went to Tuke, took their food and started eating.

"Aren't we the silent ones," Tuke said as she looked at the teachers. "You aren't even going to ask?" She shook her head. "The Olo'eyktan told us to let you sleep. He had seen that you both were very tired after yesterday. Amaya had gone up to see to your ikrans, and she had said that they also needed more rest, so the hunters and warriors left early without you."

"But-" Puvomun tried.

Tuke cut him off: "No. He has spoken and so it is done." Then she continued telling how Nusumea, Lolet and Rakan had returned to the village, robbed her of all her herbs, and left again. "They have not come back yet, but they expected that."

Puvomun understood that Jake had done the best thing for them. Amhul and he were hurting quite a bit. Another day on an ikran would not have been a smart idea. Still, he did not like the idea that they had been set aside like that. The clan leader needed every available person to search for the ayuniltìranyu.

As they had nothing to do flying, the two finished eating and then went up Kelutral to see how their ikrans were doing. The large flying animals came down to the large branch quickly as they were called.

Kilvan spread her wings and yelled out as Puvomun bonded with her, but he said: "No, ma Kilvan, we are not flying now. I want to know how you are doing." The bond told him this so easily.

As he broke tsaheylu, he knew that she was doing quite well. The pain was gone. He was surprised about that, really, as the wounds had looked very severe to his inexperienced eyes. He stroked the large head as her eyes watched him.

"You are well, ma Kilvan, I am happy about that." He handed her a hard nut, which he had learnt were the favourite bites for ikrans.

She ate it away very quickly and clearly hoped for another one, but he had to disappoint her. Puvomun had heard from Neytiri that these nuts were treats for the animals, but too many would make them sick.

"One at the time is good," Neytiri had told him.

"Go back and play with the others," Puvomun said. "If there are any others left," he added, and a sour feeling overcame him again. He stepped back and waited until Kilvan had jumped up and disappeared among the higher branches.

"'I can climb'," he muttered, recalling Amaya's words as she had looked after the ikrans. "Insanity inhabits that girl."

He waited for Amhul to send her ikran up again and then the two descended. As they reached the forest floor, they noticed that their stiffness was disappearing rapidly now.

The singers were discussing what they would do, when a girl came running to the couple, holding something in her hands.

"Puvomun! Puvomun! This is for you!" she yelled. Reaching the two singers, she pushed one of Jake's radios in Puvomun's hand. "Jake said you should have this when it talks," Le'wan said, a big smile on her face.

"Irayo, ma 'ewana Le'wan," he said, fear crawling up his spine.

"Jake, come in, do you read me?" the black box in his hand said. It was the voice of Norm that came from it.

In an attempt, Puvomun said: "Norm Spellman. I am Puvomun."

"Jake, come in man, I have something to tell you."

"Jake always pushes on something," Amhul said. "Maybe that."

Puvomun pushed the 'that'. "Norm Spellman?"

"Yeah, who's that? Where's Jake?"

"I am Puvomun. Jake is not here." Remembering to push the round thing, Puvomun repeated his words.

"Oh. Ma Puvomun, can you tell me when Jake will return?" the still slightly formal words of Norm came from the box.

"We do..." the small button did not want to stay under his finger "...We do not know. He left early. Is something wrong, Norm Spellman?"

"Yes, there is. I don't know if you understand this, but one of the men in the link-ups has died."

Link-up. Puvomun recalled that those were the machines the aysawtute used to make their Dreamwalker bodies go. "How did he die, ma Norm Spellman?"

"We're not certain, ma Puvomun, but it looks as if he had a heart attack. His heart stopped after something scared him very much, we think."

"We will tell Jake when he comes back, ma Norm. Is there something we can do? There are not many ikranä aymaktoyu here."

"Tell him that you will be looking for one less man. If you find five, that's all of them. And also-"

Some strange crackling noises came from the box then.

"I have to go. Something is going wrong here. Norm out."

That was all the box said.

Amhul stared at the thing in her mate's hand. "We have to do something."

"Yes. But what?"

Amhul walked off to Tuke and talked to the woman, quickly, waving her hands and pointing to several directions. Then she ran back to Puvomun.

"Jake has gone back to where the tawsìp fell down," she says, "and he would search there."

"We know where that is," Puvomun voiced her thoughts.

"Tuke says we should stay here. Jake said so."

"Stane. But Jake has to know this. We will go and find him."

They ran to get their eyewear, and then hurried up to their ikrans again. Puvomun was surprisingly excited as he called Kilvan.

-=-=-

They were in the air. Just the two of them. Flying, like hunters and warriors. And they had news for the Olo'eyktan.

Taw, Amhul's ikran, cried out, and her rider laughed. Puvomun had to laugh also, as the thrill of their freedom spread through him. At the same time a twinge of guilt ran through him. They should be teaching the children. There were still songs for them to learn, and fa'li to ride, and so many other things. But he shook the feeling away. These things could be done tomorrow as well.

The flight along the river was easy in daylight. All they had to do was follow the stream, and soon they reached the place where the Samson airship had crashed.

Puvomun suddenly worried. There were no high trees here, no place where Kilvan could set down easily.

"Can you find a place to sit there, ma Kilvan?" he asked, looking at the trees near the fallen tawsìp.

Silently Kilvan lowered them, crashed through some thing foliage which almost swept Puvomun from her back and she sat on a branch, calm and stable. More crashing sounds and movement later, Taw was there as well, Amhul holding on to her and looking rather scared.

"We made it," she grinned, despite the expression on her face.

"Yes." Puvomun grinned also, as his nerves relaxed.

They quickly descended and found the wreck. Jake was looking into the front part, where the tawtute rider would sit.

"Ma Jake!"

"Amhul. Puvomun." His face showed a mix of emotions. "What in the name of Eywa are you two doing here?"

The singer teachers told him what Norm had told them through the radio. Puvomun had actually brought the thing with him.

"Thanks, Puvomun, but I'm afraid it won't work here. It's out of reach."

The singer teacher shrugged.

"But it is good to know that there are only five of them remaining, ma 'eylan," the clan leader went on. "Makes the odds a bit better. But..." his face grew dark for a moment.

"But what, Jake?" Neytiri asked, who had joined the small group.

"You can't imagine this, as you never were in a link," Jake said quietly, "but if the guy in there had a heart attack, something must have scared him very very badly." A frown was on his brow for a moment. "Whatever he was in on, it must be bad to die twice."

[Puvomun]

19. Mendelson

Jake explained what he meant by someone dying twice. "I think he saw something that was so bad that his heart gave up. And when an avatar driver dies, his avatar body dies with him. There is no one else who can take that over."

His gaze drifted away for a while.

Puvomun was certain that the man was reliving some moments from his previous life, when he was in his broken body, lying in the metal box.

"Sìltsan, good that we know this. Thank you for coming here to tell us, you two. And that was quite a crash you did in those trees back there." Jake grinned.

"Yes, it was," Amhul agreed. "We will now go back to Kelutral."

"Wait," said Jake. "Since you're here anyway... and if you feel up to it... there's something you could do. You could fly over to the hill clan and see how Nusumea, Lolet and Rakan are doing. And lend a hand if they need some."

"Yes, we will," Amhul said. "I know how to get there."

Puvomun grinned as he heard how eager she was to fly again with a real assignment.

"Great. Kämakto, ma eylan, go ride!" said Jake.

"Be careful, sister," Neytiri added to that, for Amhul.

The singers nodded and left for the trees and their ikrans.

-=-=-

Puvomun found that he was more relaxed now, while flying on Kilvan. Perhaps his muscles were getting used to the position he held. The wing strokes of the ikran were calm but their speed was quite high. The experience dazzled him again, but it was easier to maintain his awareness this time.

The hills that made up the desolate living area of the hill clan were beneath them sooner than he had thought, and Amhul took the lead as she knew the way best. Their goal was not hard to find; several dozens of people were out on the rocky ground, the black hole that Amhul and Nusumea Tirea had mentioned was there as well, and there were three ikrans resting nearby, at a good distance away from the crowd.

As they came closer, they saw Nusumea and Lolet sitting on the ground, near a large boulder. They looked exhausted.

"Ma eylan," Puvomun said, "what happened? Did you not get to sleep?"

Surprise was on the faces of the sitting people. "Why are you here? And why alone?"

These questions were first answered, and then Nusumea and Lolet explained that there had been another crash in one of the tunnels that night. More people had died or become injured and everyone had worked most of the night to get everyone out that was still alive.

"We were lucky," Lolet said, "we slept outside. Sleeping inside a stone thing is so bad! We tried it and it made us nervous. There is no air to breathe inside!"

"And where is Rakan?" Amhul asked.

"He slept for a short while, the poor man was dead on his feet. We had to order him to sleep, or we would have knocked him on the head," Nusumea grinned. Even while he was this worn out, he still had his sense of humour.

A few people from the hill clan had come closer, taking in the new visitors.

"You were here before," a man said to Amhul. He was covered in red markings that were mostly hidden from the eye because of dust and dirt.

"Srane, ma Kap'tsin" said Amhul, "I was. This is my mate, Puvomun. We are here to see how you are."

"Not so good," Kap'tsin said, "as you heard. Fourteen people died. Most of our home is destroyed now, we cannot live here anymore. A few of us will go to the other side of the hill and see if the caves there are still safe. Then we can move there."

"You can also talk with the people of the forest clan, the olo'utri," Puvomun said, "they may be able to help you  find a good place. One that is near water."

"Irayo, ma Puvomun," said Kap'tsin, "but we have all the water we need. The river flows through the rocks here, under the ground. There are many tunnels that lead there. We shall leave you to talk to your friends."

Nusumea said that there was not much they could do. All wounded had been seen to, and most of the dead had been carried to a small plateau where the bodies would be burnt later that day. That was the tradition with the hill clan.

"We will rest a while longer, find something to eat, and then go back home," the healer hunter said. "Do you want to wait for us, so we can fly together? And how are your ikrans doing?"

Puvomun and Amhul decided that they would not wait. They had been sleeping long already.

"Our ikrans are very well, almost all their pain is gone," Amhul said. "Amaya is an amazing healer for animals."

"She is," Nusumea agreed. "We will walk with you, to your ikrans, and will see you fly."

Lolet agreed, so the four of them walked off, after the teachers had said goodbye to the hill clan. They passed a shallow lowering in the hard ground. Lolet walked over to it, stood still for a few counts and then came back to the group.

"Rakan sleeps there," she said with a smile, "I just wanted to see him."

"I sometimes wonder what you see in this man," Puvomun could not help to say.

Lolet smiled again. "He is... special. He is wild, and sweet, and kind to me." She looked over her shoulder, even though from where they were she could not see her mate. "And he has such sexy muscles." A dreamy look was on her face for a moment.

The three others just smiled.

The teacher singers mounted their ikrans and pulled down their eyewear.

"We will see you back home," said Puvomun. "Rest enough before you leave."

Nusumea laughed. "I thought I was the one to give advice about flying and resting. You are learning quickly, my friends. Fly safely."

"Hayalovay!" Lolet said, holding up her hand.

The teachers flew up on their ikrans, and soon were high in the air again. They travelled back the way they had come, and as they were near the site where the Samson had gone down, they noticed that nobody was there anymore, so they pushed on and went straight back to Kelutral.

-=-=-

To their surprise, Jake and Neytiri were there when they arrived. Jake was talking to his radio very quickly, in Inglisi. Neytiri was with Mo'at and Amaya, who were looking after Tawtewng who already looked better but still was weak. He probably had lost much blood.

Jake ended his talk on the radio and turned to the singers. "How were Nusumea and the others?"

Amhul told him what they had learnt.

"Very good, looks like that is all they can do then. Thank you for taking the time to fly over there. I'm afraid the children all miss you, though." The clan leader looked over at the spot where mothers and Ninat were busy herding the children, which was quite a daunting task at times. "And the mothers do too," he added with a grin.

Puvomun was honestly surprised that this man actually cared about the well-being of the children and the mothers in this new time of so many problems.

The radio in Jake's hand beeped again.

"Jake, are you there?"

"Norm, what's up?"

"We just recorded something. I think you should hear this," said the voice of Norm Spellman.

"Play it," Jake said.

From the radio came a rumble, then the sound of knocking.

"No, stop, don't shoot," a man's voice said, "I'm here to warn you."

"Hey, Frank!" someone called out, "one of them showed up! It's Mendelson!"

More strange sounds, and then: "What do you want to warn us for?"

"These people I am with, they are going insane," the first voice said, belonging to Mendelson. "We first just wanted to go out and examine the forest for traces of earlier civilisation. See if we could find writings, ancient habitats and such. Natasha and I had suggested something like that and-"

The flow of words ended as there was a crashing sound, a thud and some screaming. Some of the words sounded to Puvomun as "get off him, idiot!" After some more sounds the voice of Mendelson returned.

"Damn it, you did not have to punch me! I'm trying to bloody warn you and I am running out of time so hear me out now or wait until I am here again. Your call."

Jake muttered a few Inglisi words that Puvomun did not know, but the tone in which he said them told the teacher enough. These were not words for the children.

"Okay, go on. And why are you in such a hurry?" a new voice said.

"If I stay away too long, they will suspect something," Mendelson said. "Mankx is going paranoid on Natasha and me, and he packs heavy artillery. So we were out looking for things when Mankx ordered the pilot to take a detour and we set down in a place where we were sure nothing could be found of possible ancient Na'vi culture. Only then we found out that they were going for unobtanium."

"Unobtanium? I thought all the idiots who want that were kicked off this moon?"

"So did we all. But Mankx, Louis and Baker said that they wanted to look for it in places where no people live, so nobody will be bothered. Thorenson tried to convince them that this was a bad idea, as we now from Grace's work that this whole planet is one living organism. Mankx almost ripped his head off."

"Mankx killed Thorenson?" the third voice asked.

"No. Thorenson gave in, or so it looked. We were in the forest, near some huge old petrified trees when Thorenson ran into a pit with a kind of snakes on legs in it. Something we'd never seen before. Three of the things grabbed him, bit him, and he was gone."

After a slight pause, Mendelson said: "I have to go back now, or they'll know. Don't open this door, it's rigged from the inside."

A bang and a click.

"Hey, Mendelson!"

Some banging sounds came from the radio, and then Norm Spellman spoke again: "Did you get that, Jake?"

"I did. Puvomun heard it too. I wish Mendelson had said more. I'll ask around and see if someone knows where these petrified trees are. We can check those out."

"Okay. And Jake, for God's sake be careful. If these guys are really as insane as Mendelson said, you can hit a lot of trouble."

"Eywa will provide, Norm."

Jake released the little button.

"So it was Mendelson who died twice."

[Puvomun]

20. Trouble in the camp

As several other hunters and warriors had returned from their search missions, Jake called as many together as there were, and told everyone what he had just heard on the radio. Puvomun and Neytiri helped him translating many words, so the meaning of it all was clear to everyone.

As this talk was going on, Lolet and Rakan came down from the tree, Nusumea Tirea not far behind them. They still looked tired.

"We should send all the aysawtute away," someone in the group shouted, "they will never respect Eywa!"

Several voices rose in agreement with this.

Puvomun saw how Amhul took the three that had just arrived to the side and informed them of the latest news.

Neytiri countered that Jake and Norm, and also Grace Augustine, definitely accepted Eywa, and respected her.

"But they are only few," the man in the group said. "We cannot see in their heads, and so we should say they are bad and have to go."

Other voices again agreed with the man who felt encouraged by this. He got up.

"Your kind should never have come here," he said, pointing a finger at Jake.

"Stop that," Neytiri exclaimed at the man. "You know, as we all do, that Jake has helped us win the war against the Sky people."

"If they had not come, we would never have had this war!" the man countered.

Puvomun knew the man. He had a short temper, and he had lost his mate, two children and many other family members when their old home tree had been destroyed by the aysawtute, and also in the terrible fighting that followed.

This man was not the only one, but he was one of the few who still had not accepted the situation, and now he saw a possibility to let his anger and frustration out. That worried Puvomun, as there were more people who felt uncertain again.

"Tìfnu!" Mo'at's voice lashed over the group. "Silence!" With great dignity she came closer.

"You, Miktan, do not shout like that. There are others here, children and a wounded man." The Tsahik's eyes shot fire, it was not hard to know from whom Neytiri had inherited that.

"And all the others who make such noise," Mo'at continued, "for you the same. If you want to make a problem, make it with the people who created it. Not with the leader you have all chosen. The man you have all helped to make who his is."

Puvomun knew she was referring to the great transformation ceremony they had done, to move Jake's spirit through the eye of Eywa and into his Dreamwalker body. The whole clan had assisted in that, giving their energy.

Miktan stared at Mo'at, challenging her in silence. Then he growled and left the group, pacing off.

"Irayo, ma Mo'at," Jake thanked her.

She shot him a look. "Miktan is right, Jakesully. The Sky people should never have come." Then her features softened. "But they did, and you are here now. You must find these hetuwong, these aliens, before they do more terrible things." As usual, Mo'at did not wait for an answer or an acknowledgement. She turned and walked away.

"Dragon Lady alright," Puvomun heard Jake mumble to himself. "Okay, people. If someone else wants to leave with Miktan, here's your chance. Otherwise I take it you stay here and you're willing to help me find these ayskxawng."

One more man, Tsu'wey, rose and looked at Jake. "I do not trust your ability to find them." He too left the group.

Puvomun watched how the man jogged off, into the direction where Miktan had left.

Jake stood and waited, but no more people seemed to distrust him. "Great. Now, does anyone know something about these stone trees?"

There was some whisper and quiet discussion going through the group, as Puvomun said: "There are a few songs about the Trees of Stone, Jake, ayutral atskxe. They tell of high trees where people lived before the days were divided in light and dark."

"Do you know more about them?" Jake asked.

Puvomun recited the song for himself, to wake up the knowledge. "The oldest song tells about a powerful people, who tamed the largest animals."

Jake looked at Puvomun, his face serious.

"The other song... warns everyone not to go close to ayutral atskxe, as there is great danger there."

Amhul, who had come back to Jake after filling in Nusumea, Rakan and Lolet, nodded. "Srane. The song tells about dangers one cannot see until it is too late. And it will even kill an 'angstik."

"Damn, they must have boobytrapped that place well then, if it take out a hammerhead," Jake said as he rubbed his chin. "And do your songs also tell where these trees are?"

"No."

Twunyo, an older hunter, rose. "We think to know where they are. Most people do not know, because Ayutral atskxe is a place that should be forgotten."

"Can you take us there?" Jake asked. He had no intention of forgetting anything if that would get him closer to capturing the runaway Dreamwalkers.

Twunyo conferred with a few others and then declared that two of the older hunters would guide Jake to a place from where ayutral atskxe could be seen. "We will not go there, but if you are determined enough to go there, you can."

"Okay. We're going there. I need two people to come with me."

"I come," Rakan said as he stood up.

"You are tired, I cannot allow that," Jake told the young man. "I can push you over with one hand."

"Try it," Rakan scowled.

"Let him come, Jake," said Neytiri. "I will come too."

"No, if it's dangerous I want you safe."

"You are not telling me what to do, Jakesully!" Neytiri had a lot of Dragon Lady in her.

"I give up," Jake muttered as he shook his head. Then he looked at the two teachers. "And I don't like asking this, but I need one of you to come with me as well. Maybe there is something in these songs that helps us along."

Amhul and Puvomun looked in each other's eye. Then Amhul told Puvomun to go with Jake. She would stay and take care of the children and other things that needed doing. "But be careful."

"That is not wise, Olo'eyktan," said Twunyo. "You will need warriors, not teachers."

While Jake debated a bit with the old hunter, Amhul took one of her leather bracelets from her upper arm and tied it to Puvomun's wrist.

"I want you to bring this back to me," she simply said.

"I promise I will bring it back to you, ma yawne, and I will put it on your arm again."

Amhul smiled, but her lower lip trembled, for she knew the songs about the Trees of Stone too well.

Neytiri touched Amhul's arm. "I will look after him," she promised.

Puvomun went to get his bow and arrows, and checked the state of his knife. He barely ever had it with him, but this time perhaps it was a good idea to take it along. When he walked along to the base of the tree, the others were already waiting for him.

Twonyu kept muttering that bringing a singer along was a bad idea, but nobody paid him any attention. Before long, the group was flying away from Hometree.

The flight took them to the south west, over the forest. The treetops were so dense there, that Puvomun suspected it was always dark there on the forest floor. Not much light would be able to penetrate layers of leaves that looked thick enough to let a man walk over them. But, he was certain, trying that would be a bad idea.

Twunyo and the other older hunter stayed high over the trees. Nobody asked why they did, but Puvomun was quite certain he was not the only one who found this behaviour remarkable. There was just forest beneath them.

Rakan was talking and talking, clearly much to the chagrin of the old hunters who cast angry looks at the young man. Rakan however pretended not to notice that and just kept telling about the things they had seen and done for the hill clan.

Puvomun, who most of the time had seen Rakan as a big mouth attached to a body, now gained more respect for the youngster.

Whatever Rakan did or said, he would never lie. He told about the many people they had saved, the time he had been caught in a stone cave and feared for his life until the others had gotten him out, and the number of dead bodies he had moved.

The singer teacher wished that the older hunters would open their ears to the young man for a change, instead of looking down on him from their self-created seats of superiority because of their seniority.

"Rakan," he said when there finally was a moment to get a word in, "you have done a lot of good work. I think more people should know about this, so they see you in a different way."

"No, ma Puvomun, don't tell them. I want to be who I am among the people. Lolet knows, Nusumea and Jake and Neytiri know, and Amhul and you know too. That is enough. Yes?"

"Sìltsan, good, I won't tell. You are one strange person, Rakan, with your heart in the right place and your brain backwards in your head."

"Yes," Rakan agreed, "and I am sorry you came along on this trip."

"Oh? And why is that, ma 'ewana taronyu, my young hunter?"

"Amhul is much prettier to look at," Rakan said, his face straight.

Neytiri laughed as she heard that, as did Jake. Puvomun grinned and shook his head.

"There they are!" Twunyo called out. He held his hand out, pointing to something far away. "There are ayutral atskxe, the Trees of Stone. "Do you see them?"

"I do," Jake confirmed. They all saw the strange blob far away, rising up over the forest.

"Then we go back," the other hunter said. "Good luck, my friends, Eywa ayngahu."

As the two men left the group, Puvomun felt a worry inside him. These two men were known brave hunters. They had many scars of fights with dangerous animals, and as far as he knew, there was nothing in the jungle, or outside of it, that scared them. And yet, the mere legends that surrounded these strange trees in the distance, and the songs that the people knew, made them fly away faster than when Toruk was chasing them.

"Right, guys," Jake said, "we're going straight for them for now. We'll make a few rounds when we get near, and then see what we do."

Slowly the high trees came closer, and their colour became more and more grey.