ATEYO TeSYAKSYUK: TSULFATU

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Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

121 )~ The bunkhouse was like a zongsteng, a safeplace, to Mo'at. The events of the day were so overwhelming.  And the fumes of the engine exhaust took the last reserves of her energy out from her.  When she stumbled against Mendelson, he merely picked her up in his strong arms and carried her.
    "Now who is the bags of bones, Ma Krekori!?"
    "And such a lovely bag of bones you are!"  He didn't realize that he could actually answer her in Na'vi.  This didn't happen to JakeSully, it must be the singular effect of being Mo'ats consort!  Alekxsi opened the door wide. As he carried Mo'at  across the thresh hold, he recalled the same experience with his Sadie.  "You know, this is an ancient 'Rrta custom, that the mukxtatu carries his muntxate across the thresh hold of their new home together."
   "This is our home?" Mo'at asked dryly.
   "Kehe! But Pandora is our home.  Eywa 'Eveng."
   "Lay her down here Mendllzong.  I set up this fresh mattress here this morning."  Truth be told, Alekxsi preferred sleeping out in the bunk house, even if it meant wearing the Exo Pack all night.  The sounds of the surrounding jungle were soothing to her.
  "Do you feel comfortable, ma Mo'at?"
   "Kehe! Not at this moment, but there is comfort to be found." Mo'at reached up and touched the kind face of the woman.  She would have never expected to find comfort from a yumon. But this one had a sweet, soothing energy.  Her hand nearly encompassed Alekxsi's entire face.  Through the corner of her eye, Alekxsi could sense Mendellzong, standing awkwardly.
   "Pull that closer, Ma Krekori.  You should lie down close to her."
   Gregory Mendelson was grateful to be included in this strange process.  "Irayo, Ma Alekxsi, you are a mensch, a True Blue Person."  He moved the cot closer to Mo'at and lay on his side placing his hand on his Muntxate's belly. He didn't know if he was hearing a lullaby, or whether Alekxsi was chanting or praying.  But he felt exceedingly calm.
  Alekxsi took a moment to gather her energies and let her heart be filled with lovingness.  She placed her hands together, as in prayer, but as she separated her hands she felt the column of energy between them. Palpable. She placed her hands six inches above Mo'ats face and instructed her with a murmer. "Take a deep breath Ma Mo'at and exhale slowly.  Rid your self of those impurities."  Slowly, Mo'at exhaled and relaxed.  Alekxsi allowed her hands to glide above Mo'ats body, pressing that warm column of energy into the aura that seemed to emanate from Mo'at.  As her energy hovered over Mendelson's large blue hand, it simply slipped away as he relaxed and rolled onto his back. Soon he was snoring softly. Alekxsi was pleased to have Mo'at all to herself.  She watched Mo'ats expression move from relaxation, to a faint smile and back to relaxation.  An hour had passed and she didn't even realize that the cargo shuttles had each taken off and returned.

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

122)~As Colonel Warwick, Major TaiTaeAo, Captain Mueller, and Ateyo walked down the loading ramp they were greeted by PatriciaFenwick and Captain Henderson, once again in human form.  On the way down the ramp, Tai noticed that if Ateyo didn't get to talk she would explode or start bounced between the ground and the bottom of the shuttle.  Tai grabed Ateyo's hand and squeezed it lightly, saying "Please wait one moment, Oeya Tawnete. I must tell Patricia Fenwick something first, and then you can tell about what you have seen and done."  Ateyo nodded and Tai told Patricia. "That was fun!  We brought back four Avatars and six crates of supplies. We noticed Shuttle Two climbing up to the ISV for their load, as we were reinserting into the atmosphere.  I don't see Colonel Schroeder. Did he fly the other shuttle up?"
   Patricia answered, "He couldn't let you have all the fun, Ateyo looks like she is about to explode, does she have something she needs to say?"
   "I being in stars, Ma Pati! I seeing Eywa 'Eveng ni'Rum, like ball! I being farfarfarup and seeingstarcolors, and I floatinglikecloud"
  Patricia and Tai each took the excited Na'vi's hand and guided her to safety, as they had been standing in the open ramp.  They made the hand-off to Tweety who walked with Ateyo over to the picnic table: Ateyo chattering nonstop about her wonderful adventures.  As Patricia and Tai returned to the unloading tasks, they could see Ateyo showing off her astronauts wings that were pinned to the wide belt that held her tewng, her loincloth, in place.  As Tai looked away Ateyo was standing on one toe demonstrating the concept of free fall floating.
   As the six crates of supplies were off-loaded, Patricia supervised the transfer of contents to the transport platforms and electricly powered hand trucks.  With precision and forethought, she directed the placement of building materials for the extension of the gestation tank room .She signed off on the electronic clipboard and handed it to her forman.  Rubbing her hands together she led the way up the ramp into the shuttle's cargo bay.  "THIS is what I've been waiting for!" Along each side of the cargo bay were two transport capsules which enclosed the gestation tanks of the four new avatars. The transport gurneys were guided into position by attendants, who were checking the readouts of the vital statistcs.
   As they were walking back ot of the shuttle, one of the loading crew shouted to Patricia, "Hey, Director! What's this?"  Patricia and Tai jogged over to him, standing next to a large shipping crate.  Tai removed a bill of lading that was TAPED to the side of the box, saying."I didn't think we taped paperwork to boxes in this century!"  Patricia took the bill of lading from Tai and said with a wink, "We do if we don't want it showing up on the computerized manifests."
Tai noticed that stamped on the envelop in red was AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT: HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE.  "You wanna know what this is Tai? We thought we would bring something special to all of you who fought to protect Pandora.  We took two plants from two different climates and smuggled their seeds and spores aboard this ship.  What is in a small box inside this crate, will be grown in the greenhouse here at Blue Heart Gate.  And we will see if we an adapt them to grow in the open environment, here at the complex.  No guarantees.  If Tai had long ears, they would have been perked forward.  "So what did you bring?" The director answered, "Strawberry seeds for those of us with pasty skin, and taro for da kine"  That was a phrase that would have made Tai's tail curl in delight had she been in her Blue Body. Da kine was a phrase in Hawaiian pigeon English that was sprinkled liberally throughout conversation that indicated THE GENUINE ARTICLE or THE KIND OF anything in question.  In this case, Polynesian's who longed for Taro, the starchy tuber formerly grown in Samoa and Hawaii. "Wait til Taifa' and Ka'alani see THIS!"
  Right on cue, Taifa' came striding out of the front door of the facilitee. Finished with his tour of the proposed gestation area, he had gotten separated from the others. Before anything else, he recognized the new set of wings pinned above Tai's OTHER flight wings on her flight suit.  "What's this Cuz? Are you flying back to Earth for a gallon of milk?"
   "No milk, but I brought home some taro!"
   "THAT'S GREAT!  Where's Ka'alani?" said Taifa' as his eyes shot around.
Patricia stepped forward and inspected the readouts on the gestation transport capsules as they glided past.  "She should be~ right~ HERE!"  Taifa's eyes widened as he realized that Ka'alani's avatar was being transported past them.  He would be next to her Blue Skin tomorrow!
   "Auwe! She NEEDS to be here!  Where is her OTHER self?"  Tai offered, "The last I saw her she was on the way to the bunk house before we flew to the ISV."  They all turned to look.  Ka'alani, Ateyo and Tweety were all at a dead run across the garden compound up to the loading ramp.
   "Am I here, yet!?" cried Ka'alani excitedly.  Many arms were raised to point out her capsule and three others that were being guided along the service road that lead to the loading dock next to the current gestation room.  The attendants and two AMP suit dock workers guided the procession into the building.  Ateyo  was asking Patricia Fenwick to identify the avatars as they glided by in their capsules.  She was reading the names on the digital read outs from each capsule as it passed her: "This one is Ka'alani, This one is Max, this one is Wade and this one is Daniels."
   "Tupe mefo?" Who are those two? asked Ateyo, being unfamiliar with their names.
   "Mune eylan fwa tsam wA tsatute akaeng." Two friends who war against Bad SkyPeople."Tsampang RDA" Killed RDA. Tai hoped she expressed herself right.
  "Wate and Danill? Me'Eylan? Two friend of you?"
  "Srane." And that was good enough for Ateyo.
   Patricia Fenwick stopped at the picnic table with a quizzical look on her face.  "It will take a few hours for them to move the Tanks from the capsules and set them up. It will be nightfall before they are in position. But we can decant them tomorow morning.  And they can be united with their ayTirea, their sprits, a few hours after that.  Do you want to stay overnight or come back tomorrow?  We still have to have a burial for Mendelson's human body tomorrow.  We haven't even talked with Mo'at and MendllZong about that!"
   "We have enough daylight that we could return to the Omatikaya Kelutral tonight but we will need to ask them how they want to handle this." Replied Tai.
  Tai was about to send Ateyo to see if Mo'at and Mendelson were still in the bunk house. But as they turned, to look, Mo'at and Mendllzong stepped out. No sooner than she opened the door and came forth, the sonic boom of Shuttle Two's Entrance into the Pandoran atmosphere shook the sky.  Startled, she leapt back into Mendllzong's strong blue arms. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that, Ma Krekori!"  All the humans and Ateyo simultaneously glanced at their watches, but Tai was suppressing a laugh. "She always makes a grand entrance!" 
   They all met at the picnic table to find that Mendllzong and Mo'at had already made their decision.  "Being that my yumon self did all the research here and served here, I tink that my yumon body should be buried in this place. Blue Heart Gate.  When the time comes for my blue body to be buried, it will be near my new family, the Omatikaya." It struck him as very strange that he would be reciting Kaddish, the Jewish last blessing over his own self. Very strange, yet very fitting.
    It was decided to stay overnight and into the morning, long enough for the burial . And for the decanting of Ka'alani and Max, and the two pilots Wade and Daniels.

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

123)~Morning came glimmering into the window where Tai and Ateyo were sleeping.  It was so wonderful to sleep without the air mask, and even sweeter to fall to kissing upon first light.
TING POM * TING POM*  TING POM*  cuckoo clock style.
They both agreed that two verbs do not make a sentence, but, GIVE KISS  had become their personal little joke. Tai murmured, "Rewon lefpom Ma oeyä Lora yawnete"  Good morning my beautiful Beloved.  Ateyo murmured words to that effect, it seemed, and offered her sleepy smiling face for her reward. "Som Pay Zup? hot water fall?" Ateyo didn't like the cold floors, but she loved the hot showers!  She and Tai and Ka'alani all made a bee line for the shower room and soon it was filled with steam.
"Ka'alani," called Tai, "you girl gonna be smell nice in your link chamber!"
"And rested for enjoy my Blue Body!" said Ka'alani, slathering on her pidgeon English/Hawaiin as well as some coconut body wash.
"YOM YOM!" squeeked Ateyo as she got a whiff of the sweet fragrence.
   Ka'alani laughed.  "I wonder if they have anything like coconut on Pandora?  Patricia brought us taro, how about a coconut palm?"
   At that point the common door to the locker room opened and feet were heard on the floor.
Ateyo recognized Mo'at, perhaps by her footfall.  "Rewon lefpom Ma Mo'at! SOM PAY ZUP!"
Alekxsi was pleased that she was able to persuade Mo'at to come in and enjoy this experience.
"We both agree was better sleep in bunk house." Mo'at had rehearsed that line all morning. Patricia Fenwick and Captain Janet Henderson joined them.
   "What do you think, Ma Mo'at. Is this nice?"
   "Som! Pay! Zup!" sputtered Ateyo.
   "Ahhhh!" Mo'at sighed in satisfaction. "This feeling wonderful on my back.  BUT should be outside!"
   "That's a wonderful idea Ma Mo'at, I'll have my crew rig something up!"
   "Ohh build it with lava rock!" Said Ka'alani remembering the tales of the natural hot pools in Hawaii that her tutu, grandmother, had shared with her when she was a girl."
   Patricia was envisioning a large inter species campground that encompassed the gathering place outside the fence, the bunkhouse, and outdoor showers:  Something transitional for Na'vi and Avatars, unitirantokx to share. But other things were pressing for today. "OK Ma oeya aytsmuke.  Once we get towelled off, let's get to the mess hall and get a bite before we have our service for Mendelson's human clothes. His human body."
   Ateyo was happy to see all her new friends, especially Alekxsi and Tweety.  "Oel ngati meyam!" I give you hug.  Patrica and Janet got their hugs.  It was difficult to navigate through the corrioder with the imp getting out of line to hug everyone.  Patricia nudged Tai. "We should make this one our official greeter." But once they had gotten into the corner of the break room with the little table, Ateyo was up again, to greet the men as they came in from their showers.
   "Ma Norm!  You coming here now!" Indeed, Norm had been asleep all night long, here in his human form.  He was ready to return to his Blue Body at the Omatikaya clan this morning, when he heard of the the funeral plans for Mendelson.  And indeed, Mendllzong in his Blue  form had invited him! Breakfast was mostly fruits and oatmeal and was eaten rather quickly.
  It had been decided that the burial would take place in a corner of the garden area.  The trencher had already prepared the gravesite. Gregory Mendelson's human body was brought forth on a gurney covered by a hospital sheet.  Most everyone who worked at the Blue Heart Gate came to pay their respects and lined the path leading from the back of the lab, through the exercise compound, and down the garden walkways to the corner which was now his final resting place.  He gathered his own human body into his arms and walked himself down into the grave and laid himself down. It was such an odd feeling.  Hands reached down to him and helped him out of the grave.
   As he brushed the dirt off his hands he thought of what to say. "I lived all my life trying to do all I was commanded to do by the Creator of the Universe. And I think I did rather well.  I tried to do well by others and I tried to love the Master with my whole heart, my whole mind, and my whole soul.  When I went to the Well of Souls, I wondered if I would be offending my Creator. But as I sat and listened with my heart and spirit, I came to understand that Eywa and Yahweh are the same.  Eywa is the female expression of the Creator in whom I have given praise all my life.  So I think it appropriate to say goodbye to my human self with the prayers that I learned for this.  And I would be honored if you could gather with me and do me this honor."  A circle was formed by all the humans, and as Krekori Mendllzong started the Kaddish for Gregory Mendelson, he lost himself in the rhythm of the chanting.  The prayer shawl that once draped to his knees, covered only his head and shoulders.  He was vaguely aware that Norm was chanting a few words as well.  And when he asked the Lord to send His peace from the four directions, from above and below, all the humans and his beloved Mo'at also swayed in the directions he prayed towards.  And as he finished his chant, a stiff breeze came from the forest.  A cloud of Aytokarina came drifting on it. The seeds, the pure spirits from the Tree of Souls came and settled upon his shoulders and even desended into the grave and settled upon his lifeless frame.
  "And so I leave the old man there, and I came out of the grave a new man, TUTAN, Na'vi.  Quietly he removed his his prayer shawl kissed it, bent down and draped it over his tutetsyip, his little human.  I am dead, and I am alive.  My goal is to be a mensch of a Na'vi as I was a mensch of a human!"  Each person added a tokarina to the silent figure and paused for a moment, and each person then turned and greated Krekori MendllZong!

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#123
124)~As everyone turned away, Mo'at was walking arm and arm with Krekori, with Norm flanking him to the other side. "Wow Mendelson! That was fantastic!  I wondered how you would adjust to being here as such a devoted Jew.  But you seem to have transitioned so well."
 "When I lived on Earth and before I came to Pandora, I lived as a Jew.  But  I never voiced my doubts, but now am seeing that these doubts were surely instituted by the hand of man, not the Hand of the Creator!  Like I was telling Mo'at at the encampment a few days ago, it seems to me that Yahweh and Eywa are one and the same.  It even says in our Tenach, our Holy Book, that God made humans in his image as male and female. So vat's de problem?"  Norm noticed that Mendelson's Yiddish accent was returning  "And in the Tenach, Deborah was a Judge and a General, Esther entered into a conversation with kings and generals and lived to become a freedom fighter and was a queen. Der vas some strong vemen in de Tenach.  Yet in our Siddurs, our prayer books, we were always taught to Thank God that we weren't born female!" Every woman, both Na'vi and Human stopped in their tracks and stared at him in disbelief.  "I never said that line! The words would not come out of my mouth.  So I carried this doubt with myself, I am ashamed to say, quietly. But when I sat at the Well of Souls I could see it all clearly, how MAN had perverted the Holy One's word to their advantage.  I would be branded a heretic for even mentioning this!!"
 "And how did you live with yourself, Ma Krekori?" In Mo'ats eyes flashed a moment of accusation.
"I am sorry to say I lived quite smugly until I met my Sadie."  I vas so ashamed when she read that prayer.  I vas grateful to be sent on these research missions and not live among other Jews.  Honestly.  But I got my strength and my comfort from the Holy One, and not from men.  I prayed by myself and stayed close to the Truth. I was Stranger Among All Men, but that was my comfort."
  They were at the picnic table now, and Mo'at looked deep into his eyes. "Ma Mendllzong, I know that what you say is true, otherwise Eywa would not have chosen you to be my mate.  But this is for my satisfaction:"  With that she whipped out her little ceremonial knife and pricked his skin deeply on his shoulder.  She tasted his drop of blood and said,  "That was for the Krekori that used to be." But her eyes had a faint glimmer of maliciaious humor in them.
 "Vell I accept this punishment for that schmuck over there!" Krekori motioned to the grave with his chin.  Norm cracked up, recognizing the Yiddish expletive!  Ateyo laughed thinking he meant to say Tsmuk.
"Kehe, skawnga tsmuk!" corrected Tai, moronic brother.
"Schmuck!" repeated Ateyo, perhaps too enthusiastically. Taifa', Norm and Tai rolled their eyes.  But Krekori piped up, "Gevalt I've created a monster!"  They spent a few minutes trying to convince Ateyo that Schmuck was indeed a bad word, kawng ;ì'u, and not to use it. Mo'at was happy to find a distraction in the Astronaut Wings pinned to Ateyo's belt.
 "Ma Ateyo! You have another lefngapa ioi!" another metal ornament. "Tell me about this."
The humans were then treated to an animated monolog in Na'vi, and everyone laughed at her one-toe approximation of freefall.  Ateyo was describing the LOOK FAR and all the amazing colors of stars.  And then Ateyo made her hands in the shape of a ball and described Eywa 'Eveng as a beautiful blue ball floating in a back sky; "Rum alor eampin lìngaron ma layona taw."
  Mo'at's ears pricked forward.  Her tail slashed the air, and her dilated golden eyes settled upon Tai.  "Is this true?"
  The directness of Mo'at's gaze caused a momentary panic in Tai.  "Did I do a bad thing?" Some phrase from her past whispered in her head, "You failed to honor  the prime directive."  Mo'at was smiling to herself.
  "That remains to be seen. Your TEK-NOL-O-GEE has brought death and destruction, but it has also brought Toruk Makto and Ma oeyä Mendllzong.  I have flown in the belly of a lefngapa ikran, your DRAGON, and this morning I enjoyed SOM PAY ZUP at the FA CIL ITEE." She paused and gathered her thoughts.  With a determined look on her face, she simply stated;
  "I wish to see this also."  There was a moment when everyone caught their breath.  She looked at her Krekori, her personal affirmation of the good use of technology, and she exchanged a wry smile with him.
  "Sure thing! um, Ma Mo'at!" Major Warwick blurted. "Srane,Yes! It would be an honor to me. To fly for you! Oeru Meuia tswayon fpìl nga" He hoped he was somewhat close in his translation.  It was a line he had practiced for such an occasion, and had even said it to Ateyo.
"This is so exciting!" exclaimed Patricia Henderson.   How soon do you wish to go up? We will probably send another shuttle soon.  We were sort of waiting for you to make a decision, Ma Mo'at."
"I would wish to go before we return to the Well of Souls.  In that manner I can praise her for her handiwork!"
 Director Fenwick gave a nod to Major Warwick,  who announced, "We sky up in an hour.  Ma Mo'at we can have you back here within two hours."  Mo'at looked at Ateyo and then Tai, for a translation.  "What is two hours, Ma Tai?"  Tai pointed to the Star Alpha Centauri, "When the Sun reaches mid-day, you will be back here, Ma Mo'at."

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

125)~The better part of the next hour was spent by the humans with planning and logistics.  Tweety produced her electronic clipboard.  On it was a list of humans. Next to the name of each human was its symbol, a figure in white or blue, and the name of their clan affiliation and the location of their primary link chamber.  "You know, this list is going to get more complicated with our new link sites, not to mention the increase in human population! I'm hoping we have enough techs."
  "Vell, I did my part to free-up my use of a link chamber, Eywa be blessed!" Krekori Mendllzong was making an effort to lose his Yiddish accent. But it was still amusing to hear him sa EYVA.
   "Ma Krekori!  I have to admit that I am jealous of you!  What I would give to have a permanent Eana Tokx, a Blue Body!" sighed Tai.
   "Tse, you must give up the skin you are in.  Ma Jake was nearly dead at the Tree of Souls, but his spirit flew from his human self to his uniltirantokx.  I was more surprised than any of you to see my Mendllzong coming back to me. Eywa surely had a plan for him!" She sent an affectionate glance in his direction."
"Tsveh! Srane! Eyva vorks in mysterious vays."  His golden eyes twinkled as he spoke.
  Alekxsi and the tech named Diana came out bearing trays of food.
"OY VEY! YOM VEY!" exclaimed Ateyo. The conversation turned to the upcoming flight.  Major Warwick cautioned against eating too much, fearing motion sickness.  Alekxsi voiced a promise to provide them a meal on their return.  She wished the shuttle cabin could seat more than two passengers, she really wanted to see Mo'at's reaction to getting a glimpse of Eywa's vast creation.  As Ateyo once again described freefall and her flying tewng (loincloth) something occured to Mo'at.
   "Ma Alekxsi I wouldn't want this 'are of ioi to become tangled or damaged, I would be pleased if you would care for this while I am away." Carefully, she removed her elaborate shoulder cape strung with tiny beads made of seeds, and draped it over Alekxsi's shoulders.  Her golden eyes looked deeply into the young woman's soul. "Oel ngati kameie, ma 'Ite" I SEE you, my daughter.
   Everyone was astonished at the solemnity of the occasion. The tall Na'vi woman drew the smaller woman, the tutesyip, into her arms and then stepped back from her still holding her hands.  They held each others eyes for a long moment and the air seemed to be charged with electricity.  Mo'at was realizing that great things would come of this one.
  Major Warwick and Captain Mueller were strolling around the shuttle doing a visual inspection of all the control surfaces and hinge points.  Then they stood at the loading gate and motioned  for his passengers before they climbed into the cockpit. Once Krekori and Mo'at had folded their tall bodies into the seats behind the pilots, they started their check list and spooled up the engines. 
"Are you two comfortable back there?" asked the Major.
Krekori translated Mo'at's reply, "After a fashion."
"Hooha!  The last time I flew in one of these tings, I was in the cargo bay mit all dem soldier guys!  This is MUCH better!"
Captain Mueller used his vox intercom to alert the ground crew and asked for clearance. Krekori enjoyed watching the wonderment in Mo'at's eyes as they lifted from the surface of Pandora and sped their way to the ramjet initiation point, the sky all the while becoming darker and darker. Moments after the switch to ramjet power, the sky suddenly went pitch black, then exploded with the light of a trillion stars.
   The Great Mo'at was speechless.  The skies over Ewya 'Eveng always held a portion of one sun or the other, and at least one of the moons created a perrenial twilight.  The contrast of the stars against a grey-blue sky was no where near as stunning.
  "Ma Mo'at," came the Major's voice, what do you think of this corner of Eywa's vast creation?"  He wished that he could see her expression, but she was seated directly behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at Krekori, who smiled and shrugged. "She is speechless."
   A few moments later, Captain Mueller pointed out an object in the forward view screen.  "Nin, Ma Mo'at. See that strange shape ahead? It is not a star, it is the StarShip which carries ayuniltirantokx. That is where we are going!"  Mo'at's only response was to gulp. She craned her neck to see the object appear larger and larger. It seemed only moments before they were positioned at the docking port of the huge spacecraft.  The long climb through the ladder/tube would have been impossible for Krekori in his old body.  He enjoyed watching Mo'at's strong legs carry her upward, and was grateful to be the last one to crawl up.  As the airlock to the vestibule on the ISV opened, Colonel Gabriella Donsdorf,  and Major S'ralta Tamas' waited at attention to receive so important an interstellar dignitary. 
   Major Warwick formally introduced Mo'at by saying, "Colonel Gabriella Donsdorf and Major S'ralta Tamas' I give you the Grand Tsahik of Eywa "Eweng, Mo'at. Ma Tsahik, may I introduce Colonel Dornsdorf and Major Tamas'. "
   "Oel ngati kameie, Ma Tsahik Mo'at." They said in unison.  It was the familiarity of the greeeting that put Mo'at's heart at ease.  Finding her tongue she greeted them both. "I knew that the Great Mother created Eywa 'Eveng and all the orbs, but I never knew that her creation is so vast."
  Krekori murmured, "We are seeing only a corner of her creation.  But this is why we owe her our praise and obedience to her teachings."  She touched his shoulder and said, "Ma Krekori, srane, this is more reason." 

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#125
126)~The Humans were even more excited to share their tek-nol-o-gee with the Great Mo'at, than with Ateyo.  But who could blame them?  Everyone had feared that the Na'vi would reject the human/avatar presence and their technology.  Having the support of the great Mo'at would go far in cementing inter-species relations.
  As they approached the flight deck, Mo'at was startled by the doors that seemed to magically open a passage through the wall.  She walked with dignity and grace, observing that others passed through before her, unscathed.  The next room was wonder upon wonder.  A holograph image of this quadrant of the universe dominated the center of the room. Yet all around the deck were ceiling to floor windows. It seemed that she could step right out into the vastness of space.
She was attracted to the shimmering blue and green orb before her and walked closer to the window.. "This is Eywa 'Eveng? Ateyo told me that Eyva 'Eveng was ball, rum. I can see the Eastern Sea!  eana txampay! (blue ocean) And we are so far away that we cannot see Na'vi."
  "That is correct Ma Mo'at." assured Colonel Donsdorf.  "But we have Nìn Alìm, Look Far. We can make Pandora, Eywa 'Eveng, appear much closer."  
  Major Warwick was alarmed and suddenly interrupted his superior officer. "Belay that order.  With due respect, Ma Donsdorf, that might appear as an imminent collision until she understands that the telescopic cameras are moving, and not us. Let's show her the hologram, instead."
  Gabriela Donsdorf might have taken offense to be interrupted so bluntly by a junior officer, but she realized that he had just saved her from committing a gaff that might have had alarming consequences for Mo'at's perceptions.  Three steps away and they were again  positioned before the columnar projection of the universe.
"Rel atanvi, picture lightrays." explained Col. Gabriela Donsdorf and ran her hand through the image.  "This is Eywa 'Eveng," she pointed to the Pandoran orb, "this is your 'aw tsawke, One Sun." She indicated the brightness of Alpha Centauri A over her left shoulder, "This is your mune tsawke, your Two Sun. She indicated Alpha Centauri B over her right shoulder.  And this is our sun WAAAY over here." She indicated its position on the hologram and pointed to its position out the window.  "Tsepenge 'Rrta, Ma Shari?"  Mo'at wondered at the placement of earth.  " 'Rrta is too far away to see without the LOOK FAR."
 "Srane! Ateyo told me all about the LOOK FAR and the pretty colors of the stars. I wish to see this also."
  Major S'ralta Tamas' produced a pair of reading glasses. She showed Mo'at how the surface of the glass was curved and inverted them over a label that was engraved on a panel, demonstrating how the word became enlarged.  Mo'at had trouble finding a point of focus, and tried to touch the image that seemed to float between the glasses and the panel. And surprised herself by enlarging her finger.  "Our LOOK FAR has a bigger lens, we can see little things far away, and make them look big.  Your finger did NOT change size, just the picture of your finger.  Major Tamas' lead the way up the spiral staircase, eager to share the glory of the stars once again. "I don't want you to to get dizzy, Ma Mo'at.  Please sit here. Remember, we are NOT moving towards our sun, we are making the sun look bigger with rel atanvi"
"and lenses," Observed Mo'at.  She was seated before a view screen which she tapped with a fingernail. "Not window. Glass."
"Right!" The Colonel of the Starship was pleased with the rapid learning of distinctions necessary for Mo'at to adjust to this onslaught of information. She watched her first officer, S'ralta Tamas' slew the telescope towards Sol.  The image on the screen revealed the solar system of Sol.  "That was us, the late great planet Earth.  We were once a beautiful blue and green orb, like Pandora.em Eywa 'Eveng.  "Ayoeng ,We escaped before the kawnga sawtute, bad skypeople, destroyed it all. sk'a." She knew she couldn't translate her words accurately, but Mo'at understood the sorrow.  And grasped Krekori's hand even tighter.
  "And you all wish to make Eywa 'Eveng your new home." observed Mo'at.
  "Srane" agreed S'ralta.  "Everyone here on this StarShip wants to live in harmony with Ewya." It suddenly occurred to her that Mo'at may not accept this idea too well, knowing that humans destroyed their own Mother."
  "Srane" Mo'at sensed the small human's anxiety, yet sensed also the truth of her words. " Our Great Mother will see your Blue Heart and you be welcomed with us on Eywa 'Eveng.  We will meet at the Tree of Souls in six more days. And again when the second StarShip comes in."  S'ralta was grateful that she had spent enough time studying, Na'vi to understand the comfort and joy of those words.
 "There is one more thing I want to see: Ateyo has told me that there is a large place here where ayuniltìrantox are waiting."  Shari paused a moment to recollect that ayuniltìrantokx meant Dream WalkerBodies, Avatars. "Oh. Oh YES Srane!  I can take you there."  She lead the way from the navigation deck, down through the edge of the fight deck, down the long hallway to the vestibule.
  Mo'at was drawn to the viewing window overlooking the cavernous room with its rows and rows of glass gestation chambers.  "Nga new lìng? You want float?" asked Major Tamas'.  With a determined look Mo'at said, "Srane"  
  "Where she goes, I go too!"  It wasn't long before they were perched on the platform within the cavernous room.  S'ralta said, "I can show you my Avatar.  Just push off and you will glide. Like being underwater. Lìng nì'mìwopx!" Float like cloud! She demonstrated by  launching herself easily and glided to where her uniltìrantokx lay. Mo'at followed suite easily and was rather enjoying the sensation when she heard a cry behind her,
 "GEVALT"  Mendllzong was thrashing about.  Having forgotten Ateyo's warning of floating tewngs, his modesty was defying gravity.  Eventually, he succeeded in tucking the flap between his thighs and secured the flap in his belt. The shuttle pilot, Major Warwick, ricocheted himself across the aisle and propelled the flailing blue body towards the others.  Mo'at was smiling at his awkwardness but was more interested to be gazing upon the graceful form of S'ralta. She wondered if this unitìrantokx would also have those captivating green eyes. As they were gliding back to the platform, a purple-tinged skin caught her eye.  It was a male person, not female, certainly not Alekxsi, but she began to notice a small number of purple uniltìrantokx, like the skin of the Na'vi who live near the Eastern Sea.  She tucked away this thought, but felt the need to return home.
  It wasn't much later that the four of them were bidding farewell and "Eywa ngahu" to Colonel Donsdorf and Major Tamas'.  They clambered down, up?, the long ladder within it's tube and were buckled into their seats behind the shuttle pilots in no time.  She held onto Krekori's Blue hand, trying to review and sort through all the information that had been presented these last two hours. She gripped his hand as the Rum of Eywa 'Eveng came closer and closer into view. Uniltìrantokx were soon becoming a part of Pandoran life.  There was a new world forming and she was in the middle of it.  She wondered how it would all play out. "Ma Krekori my world is changing so fast, but I am so blessed that you are here to share it with me."

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#126
127)~Once at the picnic table, Ateyo was confirming that Mo'at had seen the wonders of the stars and all of Eywa's creation. Ateyo's enthusiasm was infectious.  During the two hour absense of Mo'at, Ateyo was creating a song in her head. She took Mo'at by the hands and sang it directly to her, seeing in her eyes that sparkle of recognition:

Far far far above us                     ALìM ALìM ALìM IO AYOENG
outside the black of sky               WRRPA LAYONA TAW
Ewya washed her hair                  EYWAL YAMUR SNEYä  NIKRET
Sending droplets of water             ULTE TSAKRR TUNGZUP  AYFAYìVA
To sparkle in the darkness            NA TEPVI MÌ SìVAWM
And she called them stars             SYAW AYFORU AYSANHì
She squeezed her hands together   POE  MESYOKXIT AWSìTENG
And made two suns in the sky        NGAMOP MESAWKETI MÌ SAW
She made these wonderful things    KOSMANA AYFì'UTI NìWOTX
For her pleasure                           FPI SNEYä TìPRRTE'
But Eywa makes time to listen        SLä FRAKRR EYWARU LU KRR fte TIVÌNG MIKYUN
to all hearts who sing of                NìWOTX AYTE'LANUR A ROL POEYä
wonderful creation                        KOSMANA  TìNGOPTERI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh That's beautiful! Ateyo, you need to teach us this song!" came a chorus of voices.  Already in her head, she was creating the hand movements and teaching it to the evi, the children that she missed so much.  "Ma Ka'alani, rutxe, nga srung si, help me to make a dance with our arms for teach oeyä evi?!"  She remembered seeing Ka'alani's beautiful dance at the Omatikaya Kelutral, the night before they all went to hear Eywa. She was imaging something graceful and majestic and knew Ka'alani could help her create this.  Ateyo's head was bursting with ideas.   She wanted to create a huge tapestry, maybe the weaver's could all help.  How was she going to create the dye for that dark color of the sky? Did anything grow on Pandora that could express that blackness? She knew where all the gourds grew around the Zongsteng Alor. Oh she missed her People! How could she color the round gourds and make them look like they were suspended in space?  How was she going to share her experience with her Na'vi?  She was barely aware of the conversations happening around her. She was concentrating on establishing the various fruit orbs on the universe of the picnic table.
  "Ma Ateyo!"  Patricia nudged her gently.  "Ma Ateyo, Ma Mo'at.  I think you will appreciate this.  I rescued this from the schoolhouse before the jungle destroyed it.  It's a representation of the galaxy that used to hang there."  She produced the mobile that had hung suspended from the ceiling.  "It's the only thing that I could save. But I hope it means something to you now."
  "Toktor Grace? Numsteng? Learn place? Oel  zerok, I remember!"  Ateyo solemnly accepted the marvel.  She had a recollection of seeing it suspended in Toktor Grace's classroom.  NOW she understood what the ayrum, the balls, were meant to represent. But the majesty of the expanse could not be conveyed in the devise. Kxawm. Perhaps, if it were displayed against the tapestry?  She looked at the beautiful jeweled colors of her fruit universe.
"Au! Tupel yamom oeyä Tsawket? HEY! WHO ATE MY SUN?"

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

128)~ "Ngaya Tsawke lu sìltsan!," Your sun was good!,  laughed a blue skinned Avatar in a flight suit.  "Kaltxti! Oe lu Lieutenent BruceWade. Sla oeru syaw WADE. Oeru txoa livu fpi yerom ngya tsawke!"  I am Lt. BruceWade, But I am called Wade. Forgive me for eating your sun!  "Ngaru zerok? Do you remember me? We met at the Hidden Base. I was in my yumon tokx!"
   Ateyo pretended to remember who he was and shook his sticky hand, human style. She laughed and handed the other moon to his companion, who introduced himself as Captain Mike Daniels.  She was wondering if she had met him too, but noticed that Tai and Taifa, and Janet were slapping each other on the back and laughing. 
   Across the compound came Tweety and Alekxsi and a few other techs.  They had been inside the newly assembled Remote Link Site that would be transported to the Mipa Tsray, near the Omatikaya Kelutral.  Alekxsi had already claimed her bunk.   She was exited to be stationed near Mo'at.  While she worked she was very conscious about Mo'at's beautiful beaded 'are, the shoulder poncho that was so elegant.   She had seen that every five beads were separated by a small knot.  Perhaps to limit the damage of the 'are were to be snagged.  Someone spent a lot of time crafting such a beautiful item.  As she approached Mo'at, she unclasped it from her own neck and offered it to it's rightful owner.
"Oeru meuia," to me is the honor, Alexandra murmured. "Ke pxan." I am not worthy!
   Again, Mo'at gazed into her eyes, and said, "But you will be, one day, oeya 'ite!  I am not sure in which way you will serve the Mother, but I feel your energy. Very strong. You have good healing energy, and the ability to awaken me from nightmares." She had that knowing twinkle in her eye.
  "Nilun ayioi a'eoio aysahika lu lor frate." Of course the ceremonial garments of the tsahiks are the most beautiful," sighed Ateyo.  It was the first time she had been able to study it up close.  It was indeed finely crafted.  She was imagining such an 'are beaded of shiny black beads.  She remembered now, which plants to glean them from.  Yes, bead work would capture the shimmering quality she was seeking.  She finished clasping the 'are around Mo'at's shoulders and realized that Mo'at and Alekxsi were still gazing into each others eyes.  Even one as sillly as Ateyo realized that there was some intense energy being exchanged. It seemed natural to picture Alekxsi with an 'are twinkling with stars upon it. She took the fruit that represented Pandora from galactic assemblage from the picnic table and handed it to Mo'at.  "Eywa 'Eveng is sweet and ripe for you." Ateyo picked up the fruit that represented the second sun and handed it to Alekxsi. "The second sun is as sweet as the first," she murmured. Alekxsi smiled as she tried to discern whether there was a hidden message in that simple statement.
  Mendllzong broke the silent exchange.  "Tse, it's not every day that you get to go to your own funeral and then go to heaven and back!  I've worked up quite an appetite and these little fruits only made me hungrier.  Let's find something to eat!"  Ateyo seconded the motion, "Tse, srake, tuteo 'efu ohakx?" Well, is anybody hungry?
   "Let's go find some spxam and Jiffy pop!" said a tall blue woman.
"Ka'alani!  Auwe! You girl be looking fine in Blue!" exclaimed Ateyo, using the Hawaiian word.  Ka'alani had been helping Alekxsi and Tweety set up the remote link.  Ateyo had been too obsessed with her imaginary craft work that she hadn't noticed he return.  Ka'lani wore her kinky hair loose and it formed a cloud around her head.  Or a halo, because the setting sun was backlighting it.  Taifa' was awestruck. "Srane! She looks like a goddess!" He said in awe.
  "Come on! Let's go shopping!" Ka'alani dragged Ateyo and Tai to their feet, Ateyo grabbed Tweety by the hand.  Alekxsi announced that she had put meat in the electric crock pot after Mo'at had left for her trip to the ISV. It would not be cooked yet.  Eventually, everyone joined in for the excursion travelling towards the former encampment in an open-sided electric trolley.  Mendllzong laughed to see the old wheelchair locked onto the fence from five days ago. Ateyo was ting lawr, humming a voiceless melody.  She was remembering the grocery list that Tsahik Meykir had given her five days ago.  She found her Toruk Spxam, the Great 15 foot tall, Mushroom, once again, and carefully selected the choicest ones singing:
spxam spxam
spxam spxam
spxam spxam spxam 
Taifa' identified several sources for grubs and Ateyo pointed out a sngukx plant with many plump grubs crawling around in it. Mefo, those two were singing: teylu teylu teylu!
  They located several artichoke looking things,  Tai had her wicked looking tool that she called Nifo'Oti,  in Samoan ,Teeth of Death. But it was easy to hold away the spiky leaves as Ateyo harvested a few. Ateyo used her tewng, like an apron and loaded up.  They took turns tossing pxorna'lor, what Ka'alani refered to as Jiffy Pop, to the fan lizards who tried to stop whirling in air long enough to catch the fluffy kernals in their mouths.  Tweety thought this was absolutely the most darling thing she had seen on Pandora. Ateyo located a rumat, a ball tree with its round seed pods, of various sizes.  Mendllzong and Patricia bent down a branch so that she could choose her Moons and Planets and Suns, as Patricia named them for her.  Ateyo laughed. "Wade not eat this tsawke! This sun ke yomting. Not EDIBLE!"  By the time they had finished their shopping excursion, the jungle was coming to life with it's bioluminescent glimmering.  Moss lighted up under their feet as they made their way back to the edge of the Blue Heart Gate.
   Everyone was laughing as they approached the enclosed garden/exercise compound. Alekxsi offered to get the crock pot of meat, while Diana offered to steam the fkxen , freggies as Ka'alani called them.  Ateyo was rehearsing the grocery song with the shuttle and chopper pilots.  They all ate at the picnic table. Now two tables joined end to end.  The humans mapped out their stategies for tomorrow's relocation tasks.  It seemed that tomorrow night, everyone would be with their respective clans.

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#128
129)~"OK Steve.  You have been following my movements on the controls for a while now, and you see that this is not too different than maneuvering the shuttle on it's low thrust vectors. Except that you are not slinging a load below the shuttle. Correct?"
"That's about right, Tai.  It almost feels the same, except that with this load slung under us it would BITE ME if given half the chance."  When there are no enlisted personnel present and both people are the same rank, and good friends, it is not uncommon to be on a FIRST NAME basis in the military.
  "That is exactly why I am not giving you full control authority over the controls until this load is safely out from under us." Said Tai.   "Do you see that huge tree about two degrees starboard five miles out? That is the Omatikaya Kelutral, their HomeTree. The dragon and the other choppers are probably already on the ground there.  We will be setting this puppy down near there, too. Oh.  And don't be surprised if we get a few ikrans flanking us as honor guard as we approach.  When we get close we will see people on the ground, directing us as to where to set this load down."
  "Gotcha Tai.  The Na'vi work really, really close with the rebel pilots here, don't they?"
  "Yeah they do, Steve. And the batch at the Mipa Tsray, the New Village were all techs that used to work for the RDA.  They settled near Jake and the NEW Omatikaya HomeTree. "
  As the two brought the load in close at very slow flight, a mixture of Na'vi and tutetsyìp guided them to where,  and in which orientation, to set the Remote Site.  A very tall Avatar, which was in fact, Norm Spielman, jumped up on the roof and motioned the Chopper to lower its hover a few inches.  Once they got some slack in the sling lines, he safely released the cables. The Remote Site was firmly on the ground.
 With the ship released from its load, Tai brought her chopper within thirty feet of the main entrance to the Kelutral and set her on the ground.  One Na'vi walked out of the main entrance towards the chopper and Tai gave the hand gesture for Oel Ngati Kameie, which was returned.
   "That, Steve, is JakeSully walking towards us.  Let's go say Kaltxì!" Jake walked up to the pilots and shook their hands human-style.  "Great work, You Two!"
  "Oh, THIS brings back old memories." said Norm.  
  "Yeah but under happier circumstances," agreed JakeSully.  "This isn't the same one that was on the Hallelujah Mountains, is it?"  
 Alekxsi couldn't help herself but blurted out, "Kehe!  This one is fresh off the ISV.  We've been working all day to get the diagnostics run!  I'm Alekxsi.  I met you briefly at the encampment last week. I'll be stationed here."
  "Oh YOU're Alekxsi! Mo'at has mentioned you!"  Mo'at was standing by her, of course. As well, as Mendllzong, who was ecstatic about his permanent Blue Self!
  "Kaltxi, Ma Jake! Oel syaw Tweety. Oe lu Krrsti Castillo. I met you there too. The Remote Site that you are referring to is at the Hidden Base.  But we have a new link chamber to replace the one that was heavily damaged by Quaritch back when."  
  Everyone was walking en masse towards the HomeTree all chattering and talking at once.  
Tai caught Jake's attention, "Ma Jake.  This is the Shuttle Pilot, Major Steve Warwick. The Major and I are plenty thirsty.  Have you got anything for us to drink? I am certain that Steve Warwick would appreciate some REAL fruit juice instead of something out of a can."
  At the mention of the word fruit, Ateyo, who had attached herself to Tai like velcro, whispered. "PrrFxenTrrKrr!"  Unexpectedly, she got TWO swats simultaneously,  from Mo'at AND Tai.
"Just because we haven't got our spoons don't think we aren't watching you, Ma Ateyo."  Mo'at reprimanded wryly.
 "Slä, I only WHISPERED it, To TAI!"
 Tai was laughing at Ateyo's look of mock woundedness.  But Ateyo was rubbing away both sets of hand prints, which only served to set the ayeveng, the children, off to whooping and carrying on.
  "ATEYO YOU ARE INCORRIGIBLE!" Tai' and Mo'at were shaking their heads and rolling their eyes.  
  "Um, wait a minute!  We have some business to attend to!" Alekxsi stopped dead in her tracks.  "The first order of business is to get Max's spirit into his Avatar."  Max was jumping up and down like a child on Christmas Day. "Outstanding!" They peeked into the Dragon.  Five Avatars were laid out on the floor.
 "Ka'alani told him. There's me right next to you, but I'll be billeted with my hubby, Taifa' with the Olo'Zongsteng Alor.  But I would be honored if you would allow me to over-see your resurrection."  
 "Yeah, cool. I never thought of it that way, but it is almost true!"
  Alexski opened the door of the New Remote Link Site.  "Maiden Voyage, Max.  You are the first transition!"  All the techs were crammed into the small Remote site, which was slightly larger than a Recreational Vehicle from ancient 'Rrta.  A moment of panic, swept across his face.  Ka'alani assured him;  "Auwe, Cuz!  I tested it out earlier.  You fella just relax!" Everyone else was gathered around the door of the Dragon.  Max easily slipped into Alpha waves, he had been rehearsing this moment for SO long!  His transition was confirmed by the shouts of Seykxel si Nitram, (congratulations) from outside by the Dragon.
 Alekxsi, Tweety, and the other techs were shouting, "HIGH FOUR" and slapping each others  hands together!  It was true that Na'vi have only four fingers rather than five, but it was a good joke anyway,  a blending of cultures with humor.
 The troupe were being refreshed under the expanse of the Kelutral.  The pilots and the Blue Heart Techs were goggle-eyed at the experience of being entirely immersed in the Na'vi culture.  Most spoke enough words in Na'vi to get along without too much embarrassment.  But as they were relaxing, they discussed again, who was flying where.
  "I miss my family at the Olo'Zongsteng Alor!" said Tai.  Taifa and Ka'alani agreed.  Ateyo was saying SYAKSYUK SYAKSYUK in her high pitched cry. "Oeyä ayeveng lom lu oer" I miss my kids!
  Major Warwick reminded them all, "At the risk of burning up precious fuel, Captain Mueller and I have to get back to the shuttle."
  "I'll take them in the dragon", offered Colonel Schroeder. "That's were I'm stationed right now.  And rather than carry around these big aaah, tsim asawl Avatars, make 'em get up and walk themselves to their own choppers!  Then lay down, switch back to human shapes and fly yourselves back to the Hidden Base."
  It was another fifteen minutes of "Havalovays" and "Eywa ngahus" before they all parted company.
   Once the choppers had departed, Mendllzong turned to the others and said; "I don't know about the rest of you, but I could sleep for three days!"

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#129
130)~ "L.Z. in site." said Tai when she spotted the Landing Zone. Let's make this look smart, People!" Tai requested military precision from the entire flight of four when she spotted the Landing Zone. "I will enter the hangar first, then left wing, right wing, and trail."
"We gotcha Skipper, "replied Janet Henderson.
  Once all the ships were safely on the ground under the overhang at the Hidden Base, the entire group of personnel formed up on Tai for a meeting. "Boy, it's great to be back, People!  I'll bet the mechanics are chaffing at the bits, to turn these ships into convertibles.  Now is the chance to impress the hell out of us, People.  You have all had lunch but we have only had fruit juice and a light snack.  We should all hit the showers and grab something to eat. THEN we will jump into our BLUE SKINS and try out your handywork.  I known that we will be impressed.
  "By the way, I want you all two meet the two latest additions to our outfit.  This is Diana and Melvin, who will be the relief techs for Tobi and Tweety.  Why don't you two stand up so we all can see you.  The techs to us are as important as the mechanics and ground crew.  Try not to make their lives too difficult.  NOW if you folks will excuse us, we are going to hit the showers and grab something to eat. Dismissed!"
  "SOM! PAY! ZUP! Hot Water Fall!" shouted Ateyo in delight.  SOM! PAY! ZUP!" echoed many voices in response.  "OH COOL!" remarked Tweety. "Ateyo is giving us our first lesson in Na'vi!"
  In the steamy shower room, Ka'alani again produced a bottle of coconut smelling body wash.
"KALIN" shouted Ateyo. "SWEET! YOM YOM"
"Kehe, Ma Ateyo. Ke Fkxen. Not fruit. Is SOAP for washing. YUR!"
"AKALIN, kehe sìltsan. Kehe Yomting. Not edible! KEHE. Don't lick it!" Tai tried to avert disaster but Ateyo's curious tongue was already experiencing her mistake.  She tried to spit the soap from her tongue but only succeeded in blowing bubbles, which would have been amusing to her if it didn't taste so bad. " I said KEHE! "explained Tai.  But Ateyo was already laughing.
 "Pelun? Why smelling sweet if not for eat?"  No explanation seemed to satisfy her curious mind.  So Ka'alani asked her, "Don't you want to smell sweet for Tai, Ma Ateyo?"
  "Srane, for Tai, slä, but ayhì'ang, thinking you one big fruit!"
  "Ayhì'ang? What is that?"  said Tai.
 Ateyo saw her moment of revenge. She started making a buzzing sound and imitated tiny feet crawling on Tai's skin, and included a series of pinches. "You smelling sweet to ayhì'ang for grab a bite on you!"
  "Ow ow ow!" Tai was startled yet didn't want to make any sudden moves due to the soapiness.  "I guess ayhì'ang means INSECTS!"
  Needless to say, all the girls in the locker room had a new word to demonstrate and practice on each other.  This degraded into towel snapping.  Which Ateyo declared as unfair, until she too was taught the fine art of towel snapping.  Eventually all the girls were dried and dressed and proceeded towards the mess hall amidst laughter. There they were greeted by the boys, who were also in a happy excited mood.  Taifa'an'ae and Ka'alani immediately embraced, and Taifa' murmured, "MMM you girl smelling gooood."  Ateyo and Tweety started giggling together.  By the end of the meal, Ateyo had learned the words, BEANS, MACARONI AND CHEESE, and BUG JUICE, which is what the personnel had named the mysterious red drink that was available in large pichers on the tables.  Tai translated BUG as hI'ang, and juice as naer.  This left Ateyo puzzled as to which insect could be crushed to make a drink, and puzzled as to why this seemed so hilarious to the humans.  No one really knew how or why the red drink came to be known as bug juice, and couldn't really help explain this to Ateyo.
  As the meal came to its conclusion, Tai was anxious to proceed.  "That was adequate.  But now it is time to change into something more comfortable." said Tai as she rose to her feet.  The other Avatar Drivers agreed and stood up and excused themselves.  As they filed out of the room, Tweety called out, "Be kind to your link techs and BRUSH YOUR TEETH!"
"Yes Mommy," came the chorus, as everyone finished up.

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

131)~Dr. Reginald Threadgoode looked across the tops of his reading glasses at Major TaiTaeAo.  "You know Major, as your Flight Surgeon, I have every right to ground you if I believe that you are unfit for duty. Do you agree?"  A involuntary shudder went down Tai's spine.  She hated being reprimanded, even if the Doctor was correct.
  "I know that you have been very busy setting up Remote Link Sites, and going to the Tree of Souls and meeting with JakeSully and Mo'at, and I agree that you have been very, very busy.  But you need to see this. You BOTH need to see what you are doing to your avatar when you forget to link up."  They were walking toward the Avatar Ward, as Dr. Threadgood called it.
   It was a plain dormitory room, with many over-sized cots set up.  Tai and Taifa' were side by side, both Blue Bodies were receiving IV drips and were catharterized.  So was Henderson.  The pilots Daniels and Wade, and Ka'alani were comparatively fresh.  "I know that you had access to link chambers at Blue Heart Gate, and I also know that  you PREFER being Blue.  Look. You are going to start losing muscle mass, if you keep up this pace.  Balance!  Balance!  Now I don't want to see you in a chopper for at least two days.   Can you do that for yourselves?  Ateyo!  You make sure to remind her to spend eight hour shifts in each body. Oh wait.  Do you even know what an hour is?  I think it might be necessary for all the avatar drivers to establish some protocols? Don't you agree, Major Tai?"
   "Oh, I agree Doctor, but someone else will have to set it up. I plan to spend five days with my family in my Blue Body at the Zongsteng Alor. I've got the mechanics remodeling my choppper so that I can fly it no matter which body I happen to be in.  So I will tell them to take a few hours to make the alterations. OK Doc?"
   "Good attitude, Major.  I knew we could make this work.  Once you get into your Bkin Skin, I want you to make a beeline for the mess hall.   You might find yourself somewhat constipated from inactivity.  Eat prunes.  I think I will address ALL the Avatar Drivers after mealtime. Now let's get you changed."
   Together they walked over to the link chambers, which were now situated closer than before. Taifa,' Henderson, Ka'lani, Wade and Stevens were all arriving.  And Dr. Threadgoode started up on his diatribe once again.  "Whoa, whoa, whoa, with all due respect, Sir",  Tai was more apt to defend her wingmen than herself. "We were ordered to remain in our human forms so that we could fly everyone around in our choppers.  That is being addressed as we speak, because our birds are being turned into convertibles.  But you are right.  We weren't trained or briefed well, and we had this emergency that we needed to deal with.  A lot of the framework and set-up is occurring now, so that we can streamline the process. Sure we have made some mistakes. But we are learning from them, and we can share this knowledge after lunch.  Thank you for bringing this up.  It is very important for us all to know and share."
   "I'm glad we had this little talk Major.  Now get into your Avatar and GO EAT!"
   The conversation over lunch immediately addressed the issues of Avatar Health and Maintainance 101.  Tai and Taifa' were immediately aware of their stiff muscles and gastrointestinal discomfort.  Of course, a number of off-color bathroom jokes ensued, and Tai was grateful that Ateyo was having difficulty translating. Nor did she offer any explanantions to her curious companion. But she must have gotten the gist because after an outburst of laughter, Ateyo demanded to know, "WHERE MY SPOON BEING?!?"
   Tai and Taifa felt that it was ludicrous and perhaps anti-nutritious to feed their Blue Bodies pre-packaged, vacuum packed goods.  Tweety suggested that they all learn to identify and cook native foods from the jungle.  Taifa' suggested that they establish an encampment nearby so that the Avatars could live together.  This brought up the problem, that the Mipa Tsray was having:  Lazy Humans would forget to practice their Na'vi and would not be intermingling and learning the culture. On the otherhand, the members of the Hidden Base were already disbursed among three clans.
   Tobi and Tweety were lamenting the fact that they would be separated from the folks at the base, as well as other clans, because they were with Red Bird Clan.  Wade Daniels and Henderson would be equally removed by the Dark Lake Clan.
   "Ateyo and I, ulte Taifa' and Ka'alani, have the advantage of previously establishing ourselves with the Zongsteng Alor Clan, whom we miss terribly. Maybe we could all go over there later and find out who can transition you guys into the Red Bird and Dark Lake Clans?"
Tweety piped up. "Honestly, we all have come to love Ateyo.  We don't want to give her up!"
Colonel Schroeder, Dr. Threadgoode, and most of the mechanics voiced there dismay at not even having been appproved by Eywa, and wanted to know when the next approval session would be.
   "PUKAP AYTRR!" announced Ateyo.  She held up her hands and folded her thumbs under to display her remaining fingers. SIX DAYS!
   "Well, five days from now we should all fly to the Omatikaya Kelutral, like we did last week." suggested Colonel Schroeder.  In the meantime, we should get some R&R!"

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#131
 132)~Sargent Peter Barilla was mighty proud of his handiwork. "Look here! Just what the Major ordered!  Punching a hole in the canopy was a cinch. I just popped out the rivets along these seams, it doesn't disturb any of your wiring.  We've got this nice little wind deflector right up here.  The thing that takes the most time is countersinking the rivet holes. Yeah, don't lean on it there, you will grate the back of your head. I'm glad that you aren't flying a Scorpion, the Samson has more headroom in the first place.  You might get more wind noise interference on your radio, I'm not sure what we can do about given our time limitations."
  "Most excellent, Sarge.  You do nice work. I appreciate countersinking the rivet holes. How are the other three birds faring?" asked Major Tai with a satisfied grin.
  "Oh, they are coming right along.  We all sat down and figured how to do it.  It's just them rivet holes that take time."
 "Is it all right if I take it for a test spin?"
  "She's your bird, Major!"
  Tai made sure that Ateyo was buckled firmly into place before she spooled up the engines.  "Makto Ko!" Shouted Ateyo as the chopper was expertly put into low hover and backed out of the overhanging cave entrance.  Tai took a few minutes to exercise some climbing and descending turns and radioed down to Peter Barilla.  "Can you here me above the wind noise?"
  "I hear you five by five, Major!" said Barilla.
  "We go Zongsteng Alor?" asked Ateyo expectantly.
  "Kehe. Oe new hahawtsyip. No, I need a nap." The excitement was wearing off, and Tai was feeling the weariness creep in.
  "Mawkrr? Afterwards!"
  "Srane! Mawkrr!"
Tai skillfully tucked the Samson into its landing spot and gave two thumbs up and a big grin to her mechanic.  "Keep doing what you are doing Guys.  This is gonna be great!"
  "Yeah, it's a good thing that the instruments are water proof, but you are going to get drenched during the rainy season, Major!  A ragtop just won't work in the wind! But the deflector should help a little. I'll think about a solution."
  "I'm going to get some shut eye. Will she be ready in two hours?" Tai actually yawned.
  "Um. The rivet fix, but not the rag top!" Both were laughing as Tai turned heel toward her quarters.
  Ateyo had all kinds of questions. "What is RAG TOP? What means FIVE BY FIVE? What is SHUT EYE?  What is li'u, word for this: ?" (Ateyo demonstrated and imitated Tai's tremendous yawn)  
  "YAWN,  Ma Ateyo."  Tai had lead them both to the Avatar Ward.  She had a human sized bed in her private quarters, but she really needed to stretch out and SLEEP.  Ateyo slid a cot next to Tai's.
  "Yawne?"asked Ateyo.  How could this word be so similar to BELOVED? "Oeya Yawnetu tìng YAWN?" My beloved gives a yawn.
  "Srane, ulte tìng pom!" Yes and give kiss!  They were each mangling the language, but were communicating quite well.  When Dr. Threadgoode peeked into the room, He noticed all the Avatars were dutifully sawing logs, and the two couples had shoved cots together and were sleeping with the their tails entwined around each others thighs.
   When Ateyo sensed that her Yawnetu was more than asleep she extricated herself from Tai's ketxse, the tail that had wrapped tightly around her thigh.  She walked quietly past all the still blue forms laying in the sterile room.  It was eerie to see their nearly lifeless bodies laid out.  Not lifeless. Waiting.
Smiling to push away her uneasiness, she met her mate in the hallway and walked hand in hand with Tai to her private quarters.

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#132
133)~Slowly, Tai became awake.  There was an ache in her back and her hips from trying to cram both bodies onto her human-sized bunk.  Her back was against the wall and she was laying on her side with Ateyo curled up alongside, seemingly oblivious to aches and pains.  A double-sized sleep leaf sounded like a good idea, preferably situated in Ateyo's corner of the Zongsteng Alor HomeTree. She slowly tried to extricate her tingling arm and hand from beneath Ateyo's head, without awakening her. "Rewon lefpom, Ma Yawnetu." came Ateyo's sleepy greeting.  Tai leaned over and tried to whisper good morning into Ateyo's ear but apparently her breath was ticklish.  Ateyo's ear convulsed reflexively, swatting Tai on the nose for her efforts.  Soon they were giggling. And kissing. "Ting Pom!* Ting Pom! *Ting Pom!  What a luxury to awaken each morning wrapped around you!" murmured Tai. The two of them lingered abed, simple happy to find themselves in each others arms. They enjoyed tsaheylu together  Tai always enjoyed the concept of plugging in their brains together. Ateyo seemed to be sharing imagery. A prenant Na'vi woman, curled up a caressing her blue tummy.  The tummy became superimposed with the glowing orb of Eywa 'Eveng and then the swirling galaxy which then enfolded everything.
  "Au! That was beautiful Ma Ateyo! I like it when you show me your film clips!"
"What is fim klips, Ma Tai?"
"Filllm clips. Moving picture story. You just shared with me a story of Ewya giving birth to her 'Eveng."
 "I want for share with oeya evenge, not showing HOW birth, but for showing Ewya loving all her childrens.  All my evenge being ORFAN."  Ateyo had memorized that new word now. Not have sa'nok or sempu for share tsaheylu.  I sharing film clip for remembering of my LOOK-FAR and my knowing Ewya loving all her children's. Even ayORFAN."
  Tai remembered seeing a Na'vi woman nursing her child while also connecting their metswin, their two braids.  "When you go to the Well of Souls, Ma Ateyo, can you share this 'film clip' with everyone?"
  "Srane! Utral Aymokriyä,  niteng. The Tree of Voices, as well."
  "But how will they know YOU sent it?"
  "Ke wawe! It's not important! All Na'vi share and know if it pleases Eywa."
   "But is txan wawe for Ateyo holding each orfan 'eveng and share with them, For make child Zongsteng. Safe Place. "
  "Zongsteng ALOR" a BEAUTIFUL safe place. And today we going to stay with your ayevenge at Zongsteng Alor!"  Ateyo was sitting up in bed, yet still curled up next to her muntxatu, her spouse.  "Kxawm fitrr 'awsìteng tivìran ne Utral Aymokiryä?!" Maybe today we all will walk to the Tree of Voices?
  "Srane! Txantsan! Excellent. We have a plan! Set som pay zup?!"
  "SRANE! HOT WATER FALL!  Today I see my kids!!!"

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

134)~"Ateyo's back!   Ateyo's back!" The chopper had barely touched ground when it was mobbed by ayeveng.  Ateyo became a living mountain of children as the ayeveng tackled her and they all collapsed in the long grass, laughing and giggling.  "We thought you would never come back."  "Don't ever go away again."  "We missed you!"
The adult Na'vi had greeted the arriving ayUniltiranyokx, the Avatars. And were trying to guide everyone back to the kelutral. The evi were indulged in their greeting of Ateyo.
   "Kaltxì Ma Oeyä Evi!" Ateyo was busy kissing them and rubbing noses. Ateyo struggled to sit up but allowed the children to expend a lot of their energy.  Eventually Meykir'ite waded in and helped her to her feet.  The children, who were almost as tall as Ateyo, wanted an accounting.  "Where did you go?"" Why were you gone so long?""Did you bring us any presents?"
   "I went to see the Great Mo'at and we all went to the Well of Souls.  Eywa looked into the hearts of our friends and agreed that they all have True Blue Hearts! So they can wear their Blue Bodies. Do you remember Ma Tai? and Ma Taifa?"  The evi craned their necks upwards to regard the two Samoans. "Aysrewyu!" The dancers!  The children now mobbed Tai and Taifa'.  Tai and Taifa' were "making a muscle" with their biceps, and the children were making sport of hanging off their arms, until Meykir'ite intervened.
   "Don't tire him out Ma Evi! They won't be able to dance!" That convinced the children to stop hanging on them, but they were still swarming and holding onto their hands. "What's your name?"  Tsunu had grabbed Ka'alani's hand, and was gazing up at the tall blue uniltirantokx woman with the flowing mass of kinky hair. "Oe lu Ka'alani. Oe lu muntxatu te Taifa'ana'e."  She was pleased to introduce herself as Taifa's spouse and said it in Na'vi.  Immediately, the children and many adults welcomed her.  By this time they were under and within the structure of the Zongsteng Alor kelutral. Ateyo was introducing all the avatars to her clan. "Kaltxì sìvi ne Ka'alani, Ma Evi"  Say hello to Ma Ka'alani, Kids!"
   She introduced the pilots as Tswayonyu Daniels, Wade, Janet, all in turn. Then she introduced the humans, the technicians she introduced as Ma Tek Tobi and Ma Tek Tweety.  The door gunners for the pilots, she introduced as aysamsiyu, warriors; Williams, Petrich and Rom, though she actually allowed them to introduce themselves.  One child was sitting on Tobi Yashihiro's lap, fascinated by the elliptical folds of his oriental eyes. "Nari si?" Can you see? can you use your eyes?"  "Srane! Oel nin ngati  ulte oel ngati kameie! Yes I see And I SEE you!" replied Tobi with a chuckle.
   Ateyo was answering questions.  "Srane! Then I went UP UP UP nefä, nefä nefä! in the belly of a txan txan txan lefngapa ikran, great great great metal ikran. Ma tai fwa makto. And we went up high until the sky was black and I saw all of Eywaya Tìngop, Ewya's creation.  I saw beautiful star colors and Eywa 'Eveng looked like a pretty blue ball.  I want to show you all of this at the Tree of Voices, mawkrr!" later. "First, I want to know where is Ma Peypxi? I don't see her. Is she hiding?"
   Varu'itan, the son of the Na'vi who at first had opposed the Avatars, rushed to share important information. "Srane, Ma Ateyo!  She is hiding because she is mad at you!"  Meykir'ite quickly offered an explanation. "Peypxi has been distressed that you were gone.  She has become more and more withdrawn."
   "I can show you where she is hiding!" suggested Varu'itan.  Ateyo excused herself and allowed herself to be lead away by the excited Na'vi boy.  "Here she is!" Ateyo stooped down to see underneath a sleep-leaf, which was draped with a blanket made of eanean.  "Peypxi? Are you under there?" Ateyo peeked underneath the blanket.  "Where's my Peypxi?  I came all the way back from the stars just to get a hug from my Peypxi, but she doesn't love me any more."
   "Go away! You left me all alone," sniffed the little child. "I'm mad at you. For going away."
   "I went all the way to the stars to bring you pretty pictures, and now you don't even want to see them." pouted Ateyo. She sat outside of the childs' hiding place.  "I was going to show you first, but you don't love me anymore.  You won't even give me a hug."  Ateyo pretended to sob, but found that she was actually broken-hearted to have caused little Peypxi such distress. Tears started rolling down her cheeks.  Varu'itan started patting her hand and then lay down next to her with his face near the blanket. "Come on, Peypxi!  Now Ateyo is crying too."
   Peypxi came crawling out from her hiding place, and crawled into Ateyo's lap. "Don't cry Ma  Ateyo. I'm not mad any more."
  "You are not? Oeru txoa livu?" to me is forgiveness? Ting oeru meyam! Give me hug!"  the child gratefully complied.  "Do you want to see my stars?  I want to show you first."  She held the child on her lap and let her join their tswin with her little hand.  She watched as the child's face lit up with wonderment. "Come let's share with everyone."  She got to her feet and while still holding the child in her arms, slowly made her way down to the large community room below.  At their arrival, the room burst out into cheers. 
   Soon the entire assembly was walking down the path to the nearby Tree of Voices.  Everyone found a place to sit and allowed their ayswin to be connected with the tendrils that draped down from every branch. Everyone was humming to themselves, to each other, to Ewya, and swaying with the tidal flow of shared energy.  And soon everyone was experiencing the visions that Ateyo shared; the tenderness of Ewya as she caressed her pregnant belly, The globe of Ewya 'Eveng superimposed upon/within,and the sweeping grandeur of the galaxy.  Eywa washing her hair and shaking it dry, with all the droplets becoming aytanhi, stars.  She showed the glorious colors of the nebulae that she had seen through the Look Far. All the while reciting/singing the poem about Ewya's creation.  As the vision faded, the Na'vi expressed their astonishment that Ateyo could share such imagery and the evi were called, "Again! Again!  Show us again!"

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#134
135)~The children all wanted to hold onto Ateyo. There were two on each hand, three holding her tail and little Peypxi was carried on her shoulders.  Ateyo indulged the child to join their aystwsin, once again for confort if nothing else. They all agreed to hunt teylu with her.  The aytoronyu asked Tai and Taifa' to get their their compound bows and they all took off hunting.  Tweety, Tobi and Ka'alani joined Ateyo and the Evi in their hunt for ayteylu and fkxen.  They all trooped into camp where Tsahik Meykir supplied them with baskets.  She also joined the excursion, as Eyktan Ikxeru had already joined the hunters.  It was almost comical to see the Na'vi pulling the human-sized bows, but as they were much shorter than the Na'vi long bows, it was easy to maneuver them in tight confines. Each person who borrowed a compound bow quickly got a yerik.  They field dressed them and returned to Zongsteng Alor. Ateyo and her entourage had already completed their grocery expedition.  Varu'itan had demonstrated his prowess at starting a fire, not only for Meykir, but from every Na'vi mother who wanted assistance.  Tsahik Meykir and was explaining her basting sauce to Ka'alani, who had excused herself from the grocery vocabulary lesson.  Other than getting poked in the eye by a curious Na'vi child, Tobi was having a great time, too.  His Japanese features were a fascination to them.  
  The conversation over the roasted yerik, centered on the comradery of the entire group.  Eyktan Ikeru, asked Tai; "All theys aytute coming from Hidden Base?  All coming today?"
Tai, through Ateyo, explained that there were still four mechanics, two technicians, and four maintainace workers..  "All these should be in one clan.  I will talk to other  meyektan, the other two chieftans.  They will agree. They will having new tutetsyìp.  There  more coming, srak?"
 "Before long there will be fifty-six more tutetsyìp coming." replied Tai. "Probably during the rainy season."  Ateyo translated and Tai continued, "I want to see that every clan has it's own pet human who wants one."
  This word PET stumped Ateyo.  She and Tai discussed it together.  Except for Amaya of the Omatikaya, who had tamed a palulukan cub or something, no one was familiar with the concept of keeping a small animal as a companion.  So she translated Pet as TOY HUMAN and got many laughs all around.
  "Ma Ikxeru!  Fwa livu kosman, it would be wonderful if all my group could join the Zongsteng Alor Olo'.  If you think you could present it to the other two clans without offense, then I would whole heartedly agree. I was afraid to ask for such a thing.  The other clans were feeling neglected, I didn't want to seem selfish," responded Tai.  Ikxeru assured her that he would smooth things over with the other clan leaders.  It was enough that they had expressed willingness.
  "That will make things easier for us to do our scheduling!" exclaimed Tweety.  "You just made my life easier!"  Ateyo explained to the Na'vi that it was complicated to keep track of who was where and in what color skin.  Everyone laughed appreciatetively, and expressed their happiness of merging the the Zongsteng Alor Clan with the Hidden Base Clan. Some wondered if there would be a problem of leadership.  Tai explained that the aytutetsyip and ayultìrantokx would always regard Ikxeru as Eyktan of the joint clan, but reserved the leadership of the Hidden Base Clan in terms of their schedules and military matters to herself. But that only. "Ngaru lu oeyä eyktan. You are my chieftan. Ayoe lu mesamsiyu tìkanuhu," you and I are twowarriors with intelligence, "ayoeng livu mllte, we will agree," on a solution. Ngati Kame."  Ikxeru was pleased with this sensible approach and shook Tai's hand human fashion.
 Some conversation ensued when Ka'alani bought up the fact that mated couples should always be assigned to the same clan.  The same suggestion would apply to the couples who are seriously dating. "These four clans are within two hours flight by ikran," pointed out Varu.  "We always come together when three or more moons align. We can also visit often and create new romances."  At this, Varu's muntxatu batted him playfully. "Tse, not US married ones, but our young men and women. It keeps the clans tied together more strong."  Varu's muntxatu, seemed satisfied with that answer and looked fondly at her son who was still a young teen and hadn't even started thinking of such things.
   "When we consider the Omatikaya, the Eastern Sea, and the Plains clans, they will have greater distances to consider, when dealing with their ayuniltìrantokx," noted Tsahik Meykir.
 "There will be more link chambers brought out to those clans, so that all with have their own base for the yumons." explained Tai.
  I wonder how the yumans are getting along with the eastern Sea clan and and the Horse Clans? Wondered Ka'alani.  "They got pretty scattered."
 "I have another concern, Ma oeyä tsmukan;" Tai addressed the eyktan once again. "After a length of time, we will no longer have fuel for our choppers.  But most of us here are aytoronyu, hunters, and aysamsiyu, warriors.  Many of us wish to be trained in the Na'vi ways of hunting, and learning to say the Prayer of Thanks over our prey. And if I may be so bold, those of us who fly the lefngapa yayo would also want to learn to fly ayikran."
  "That sounds reasonable, Ma Tai." Ikxeru looked sternly at all the humans assembled.  It is well that you have requested proper instruction. Tomorrow, ayoeng aytaronyu will meet with ayuniltìrantokx who wish to be hunters and fly ayikrans.  We will pair up aykaryu, teachers ulte aynumeyu, students. You are all staying overnight, of course."
  "Srane!  Yes! We are staying for four days until we go the Well of Souls again, on the fifth day", was the excited response from all the humans and avatars.  It didn't escape Tai, that Ikxeru had included himself when he mentioned "Ayoeng taronyu"  Her suspicions were confirmed when the two exchanged knowing glances.  The Eyktan had already chosen Tai as his Numenyu!
  "Ma Eyktan!  This is very exciting for us, to be accepted in such a manner, how can we show you our gratitude?"  Taifa' blurted out.  It was, of course, a loaded question.  Everyone wanted to see the Samoan war dance again.  But Ikxeru requested especially that the dance be done with  fire knives, as they had done at the Omatikaya Kelutral.  Tai and Taifa' excused themselves and ran out to the choppers, giddy with excitement.  Meanwhile, Ateyo and Ka'alani found drums to pound on while others also produced their drums.  When Ka'alani saw the torches approaching, she started pounding out the rhythm.  The Na'vi were positioned in a large semicircle.  The vaulted interior of the Kelutral insured there would be plenty of room for the fiery blades.  The other drummers picked up the rhythm that Ka'alani lead.  The amazing magically synchronicity took over, and all the drummers played as if they had been rehearsing together for years.  Tai and Taifa, both in tribal wear similar to Na'vi clothing, performed with magnificence and daring.  The crowd cheered as they twirled their flaming nifo 'oti, above their heads, around their backs, while kneeling down, while lying down and standing up again, all without losing the beat. They tossed the flaming weapons back and forth to each other. The dance continued pounding its wild cadence. Taifa's voice ascended in a four note call that signalled the abrupt halt of the dance with the drummers also stopping on cue, with Tai and Taifa' ending in a defensive posture.  After half a breath-taking moment everyone burst out into cheers.
  The hunters and warriors of the tribe were especially enthralled, perceiving the possibility that they too might learn this dance someday.  The celebration continued, pausing only long enough for a Kava ceremony.  Before the night had ended, Ka'alani had been persuaded to do an impromptu hula, to the song that Ateyo had created about Ewya's Creation.  Ateyo and all her evi formed up and did a rendition of the ikran flyer song. Soon all the avatars and humans had joined them, making a good effort at copying the dance movements.
  It was disappointing that all the avatars had to stop their celebrating at midnight. Tai stood up and raised both hands.  "Ma oeya Na'via!  We are having such a wonderful time that we do not want to stop.  But,  We have promised to lay down so that we don't fall down. So we must say good night. We better knock off before we turn into pumpkins!"  Ateyo didn't translate the last sentence, but later asked Tai, "What is PUMPKINS?"  The ayevenge dragged all four uniltìrantokx by the hands, up into the common area that most of the children slept in. All the humans joined them.  "Oh a sleep over! How FUN!"  exclaimed Tweety.  Ateyo gathered all the children together and carefully explained that the ayuniltìrantokx had to return their spirits to their human bodies.  "So if you wake up later, when you need to do your business, don't be afraid if they seem very stiff.  They are alive but their spirits have to go back to their human bodies."  The various children had all chosen their pet humans to sleep next to. And Tobi had to remind his favorite not to poke him in the eye, and put on his face mask defensively.
 "Txon lefpom, Ma Evi"  After five minutes of  "good nights" from the children, they realized that they were not going to get responses from their new blue friends. Eventually,everyone drifted off to sleep.
 




Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

136)~The link lid lifted open to show Melvin's smiling face beaming down on Tai. "G'Day, Major! How are you doing?"
   "Not bad Melvin.  Ngaru tut? How about you?"
   "Boring, no doubt.  I can hardly wait to get my Blue Skin. When is the next time we all go to the Tree of Souls to show Eywa our Blue Hearts?"  Melvin's Aussie drawl was enjoyable to hear.
   "Um, let me think. Where is Ateyo when I need her? Well, if it is past midnight, we have three more days. But my guess is that we will all go to the Omatikaya Clan the day after tomorrow." said Major Tai.
   "This is like a dream come true!" gushed Diana.  "When do we get our Blue Bodies?"
   "I really don't have a clue about that.  When I left the Blue Heart Gate, they were busy building an extra wing for more gestation chambers.  I guess we will know in a couple of days."
   Diana didn't have a chance to respond because Captain Janet Henderson and Ka'alani were ready to come out of link. And Melvin rushed off to greet Taifa'.  Melvin and Diana had been spending all their conversational time wondering about the whens and ifs. They wanted more information from Tai and the others but they knew they had the basics to attend to.
"Do you all want MREs or protein shakes?" asked Diana as she reached for the refrigerator door.
   Taifa' emerged and heard the conversation about food. "AU! I want me some roasted yerik and a skewer of ayteylu. But I'll settle for a shake." "Me too," agreed Ka'lani. "But tomorrow, I want to see if Ateyo will show us where to catch fish.  I sure wish they had rice and coconut here!"
  "Do you have spaghetti and meatballs?" asked Janet. "Or a reasonable facsimile thereof?"
  "Depends on how you define reasonable. Yep, ChefBorArdee for the Captain!" Melvin handed her a package and pointed out where the hot water dispenser stood.
   "Have you got any Ham and Lima Beans in those MRE's?"asked Tai.
   "Of course! Take two!  No one else will eat them!" laughed Melvin. "You guys are so lucky!  Tell Tweety and Tobi not to forget us here."
   "Yeah, we're missing out on all the fun!" chimed in Diana. " I want to meet my clan before I go.  We are WAAY out in left field."
   "I will relay that message, but she is in charge of scheduling. I'm staying out of that!  Oh, and by the way, Eyktan Ikxeru is going to see if he can get the entire Hidden Base CLAN under the wings of Olo'Zongsten Alor! Tweety says it will simplify scheduling problems."
   "Well, I'd love to pump you for more information, Pxefo, You Three!  But you need to hit the gym, hit the showers, and sack out. Revellie is at 0600 hours." Melvin stood up and started gathering empty cartons and shooed them all out of the link chamber site.
   "We are out of here to hit the gym. Txon lefpom, my oeya aysmukan!" said Tai, as the four humans trooped out towards the gym.
   The next morning, four excited humans scrambled for their respective link units. Diana was chiding Tai. "Don't forget to tell Tweety that we need to share some time with our new clan."
   "I will, I promise!" As she closed the link chamber on herself, she heard Melvin saying, "Have a G'Day, Mate."

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#136
137)~ Ateyo was dreaming of flying.  The trees were rushing beneath her.  She was holding tightly to the binding of her ikran, felt the strength of the wings lifting her upward, upward.
"Let go of my hair, Ma Ateyo!"  Tai pulled the Na'vi woman closer into her arms, if for nothing else than to loosen her grip. Ateyo laughingly apologized as she sat up, but Tai pulled her back down for a kiss." TING POM*TING POM*TING POM!"
"What were you dreaming of that you held my hair so tightly?"
"Lamu oeru unil a teri tìtswusayon... I was dream for flying ikran, holding very tight! You being my ikran!"
  Many sleepy little Na'vi were scattered about in the communal sleeping area.  The children insisted that Ateyo slept with them the previous night.  Ateyo placed her finger to her lips, so that the evi, the kids, would not be awakened.  Tai and Ateyo enjoyed some snuggle time before the others roused up.  The other human were learning to sleep with their masks in place, and Tai was grateful to be in a Blue Body entirely adapted to the Pandoran atmosphere.  She laughed when she noticed a Na'vi child crouching close to Tobi, staring intently at his face under his mask.  Little fingers tapped on his mask, and he was startled into wakefulness. Suddenly there was giggling, and everyone was waking up, yawning and stretching and saying, "Rewon lefpom."  Good Morning.
  Eventually, Meykir'ite lead the troupe of children to the fire ring, where her mother was already working.  She and her daughter started handing out warm washcloths made of eanaen plant fiber and helping the children wash their faces.  Meykir'ite and some of the older children were bringing hot wash towels to their guests.  Soon the little towels were lined up to dry on a sunny branch.  The Na'vi women were joining the group with laughter and greetings and started pounding seed butter in the pestles.   Ka'alani and Taifa' and Tai were remenescing about pounding taro in Samoa and Hawaii.  Tobi had heard of it growing up, but wasn't familiar with it, even though he had grown up on Oahu, in the Hawaiian Islands of  'Rrta.  They were remarking about the taro plant that Patricia Fenwick had imported to the Blue Heart facility and wondered who was maintaining the green house.
 As other Na'vi joined the group, breakfast was served upon wide leaves, with leftover tidbits of roasted yerik and the butter, which Ka'lani identified as like tahini, sesame butter. Conversation turned to the day's events, with Ikxeru suggesting archery lessons. Ka'alani requested fishing, to which Ikxeru suggested that both activities be combined.  The evenge, the children, agreed to accompany the adults and teach them the language and skills they would need for the day.
   "Oel tspìmang sluselea payoangit fa tskow-tswisawru!" I just killed a swimming fish with the bow and arrow!  Varu'itan was fairly dancing on the shoreline as he boasted of his shot. His father, Varu, and Tai help him haul in the monster.  The fear and animosity were gone from Varu, though two weeks ago, he had spoken out vehemently against welcoming any "sky people."
"PAYOANG", the boy declared proudly, as he displayed the large fish across both arms. "Payoang asawl. Fish BIG.  PAY YO ANG. Fish" He waited for the humans and avatars to repeat.  PA-YO-ANG  AH-SAWL. FISH BIG!"
"PAYOANG ASAWL!" shouted everyone in glee. "Seykxal si nitram,"(proud and happy) congratulated the Na'vi to the young man with the armful of fish.
"Irayo Ma Tai!  Thank you for using me the bow yours! Is easy for pull, like child-size bow"
  Tai patted him on the back and was pleased to be sharing her compound bow with the Na'vi.  "Seykxel si nitram! Ma Vari'itan."  The young man's face boasted a wide grin, as did his father's.  "What a Kodak Moment" exclaimed Janet. "I should have brought a camera!"
  The arhery lesson continued through the morning. Neither Tai nor Taifa' could unlearn their form, but the other humans and avatars learned to pull their arrows with the palm outward.  "That feels WAAAY too unnatural!" they each exclaimed.  Although they teased her unmercifully, she easily dispatched the giant payoang that lingered in the depths.  However, when the retrieval cord on the arrow snapped, she knew she was in for a fight. Tai handed her tskow swisaw, bow and arrow, to the first person on her right and dived in. Ikxeru, though initially startled, by the bow slapped onto his chest, led the party downstream chasing Tai and payoang. They could see the fish trying to surface and shake free its predator with Tai's Blue fists pounding its bony head and eyes.  By now, three Na'vi had joined into the fray.  But it was Taifa's nifo 'oti weapon that finished the job.  The fish was dispatched in one blow.  It took four full grown men to drag it ashore.
  Tai, gasping and bleeding from the sharp barbs and teeth, stretched out near the beast and recited the prayer for the payoang who had given its life for the good of the people.  Ikxeru admonished her for not taking a clean shot and causing the fish anguish, but praised her.also for not letting the fish escape to die in misery.  He made some commands to various Na'vi. Runners were dispatched to bring the whole of the camp to the river's edge, and other started creating a large fire pit.  Varu and his son went to retrieve his fish, but most of the taronyu were slapping Tai upon the back, happy about the fish feast they were about to share.  When Ikxeru saw that the broken arrow was implanted deep into the fish's heart, he immediately apologized to Tai.  She felt vindicated, as she had KNOWN that her shot placement was good.  Ateyo translated for the eyktan, "He kept swimming because he didn't realize yet that he was dead."
   Tai and Varu'itan gutted their fish and spoke the Hunters' Prayer as the entrails floated downstream, that even in death, the fish would bring sustanance to other creatures in the river. Tai was pleased to remember it in it's entirity:
  "Oel ngati kameie ma tsmukan ulte ngaru seiyi irayo!" (I see you brother and thank you!)     "Ngari hu Eywa saleu tirea, tokx `i`awn slu Na´viyä hapxi!"  (Your spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays behind to become part of the people!)
  When Ikxeru heard Tai make this prayer in Na'vi, he touched her arm and said, "You are ready, Ma Tai."  Tai's heart was bursting with joy because she realized that that pronouncement indicated that she was approved as a hunter and could soon choose her own ikran. The young Varu'itan was also declared hunter.  Ateyo and Varu'itan exchanged triumphant smiles, knowing that they had coached their students well in reciting the prayer of pardon for killing an animal. It was a only a matter of time before all the pilots would qualify as hunters.

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

#137
138)~The entire tribe had ventured forth to the fishing/archery lesson, bringing Meykir's cooking pot carried by two strong women.  Ateyo and her evi went on a shopping expedition for Meykir.  It was the Tsahik's pleasure to cook the payoang for the entire two clans, Olo'Zongsteng Alor and Olo'Hidden Base.  She shared her special sauce recipe with Janet and Ka'alani, and stirred it with her wooden spoon.  Tobi was interested in the ceramic pot.  His uncle used to have a raku kiln in his backyard.  The random patterns of glaze and the burn marks on Meykir's pot reminded him of his uncle's pots.  He drew Ateyo aside and asked her who had made the pot .  Ateyo promised to introduce them at a later moment. The pilots Wade and Daniels were commenting on the tangy smell of wood smoke. Ateyo didn't miss a chance to explain PrrKxenTrrKrr as DayTime Smoke Pleasure. As she lay out the fruits and vegetables, fkxen, to roast over the coals she started to say PrrFkxenTrrKrr, which would indicate Daytime Fruit Pleasure. But Meykir brandished her wooden spoon at her.  Tai and Taifa' and Ka'alani  burst out laughing, as the tsahik admonished them all to behave themselves in front of the evenge. The children were caught unawares, but were laughing simply because the grown-ups were laughing at Ateyo.  Nor would pxefo, the three, explain what was so funny to the uninitiated.  There was much laughter throughout the meal. And Tai had to relate her fishing story a number of times. Someone was setting up a smoking rack for the fish,  There was plenty to be smoked for future use. The young hunters were using the flaps of their tewngs, their loincloths, to direct the smoke properly. Varu'itan grinned  at Ateyo and said, "PrrKxenTrrKrr."
Meykir arched an eyebrow at Ateyo, but nothing was said, because the Push Fruit hadn't been incorporated into the joke. There was still enough daylight for a swim.  And everyone decide to  jump in.  It wasn't long before Taifa' and Tobi were entertaining the Evi by squirting water from their hands.  "TsA!" they would command. SQUIRT! and the two would compete to see who could squirt highest. Soon all the adults were participating, only to hear the children laugh. When they tired of that, Taifa' entertained them by floating on his back and squirting water from is mouth.  The evi were climbing on the back of the adults, shouting, "Makto Ko! Nga lu oeyä ikran!"  Let's ride! You are my ikran! Mìn Nitxa Ftär!I turn real hard left!" They couldn't dance well enough in the water to do the Ikran Flyer Dance.. so a chicken fight ensued, with the children arm wrestling to unseat each other from their chicken/ikrans/adults.  Child-size Ateyo was sitting on Tai's shoulders.  She told Tai,  "This morning I was dream for flying  ikran, but was you.  Now I am fly you! Makto ko! Oeyä ikran! "  Ateyo was a popular target and was soon unseated amidst shouting and gurgling laughter.  Ka'alani was sitting on the shore teaching the tsahik and other Na'vi women to make leis, flower necklaces. She presented them each with an Aloha.
  "What means Aloha? Ma ka'alani?" asked  Meykir'ite.
  "Um, it's sorta like Seykxal and Lefpom, both!" Eventually, the exhausted swimmers dragged themselves onto the shore and were sunning themselves dry. "Aloha ulte Eywa ngahu!" the lei makers presented each soggy swimmer with a gift. Ka'alani, adorned with garland upon garland of flowers, began to dance a gentle hula, and asked the others to guess what her graceful hula hands were describing; the sun, the water rippling past, the payoang swimming in the water, the breeze swaying through the trees, the smiles in their hearts.  Most of the Na'vi, men, women,and children, all wanted to learn the graceful moves. Ka'alani demonstrated how the hip should follow the rotation of foot on the ground, and Ateyo helped to illustrate by exaggerating all the movements until everyone was in hysterics.  But persuaded past her silliness, Ateyo demonstrated a smoothness and gracefulness that she rarely admitted to.

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

139)~ As the sun journeyed toward its rest, the picnicers; humans, Na'vi and avatars together, gathered their dried fish, disassembled the drying rack, washed the cook pot, drenched the fire, and began the short walk through the jungle towards the Kelutral Zongsteng Alor. Ka'alani and Tweety were certain to save a large portion of "Jiffy Pop" pxorn'alor, beautiful exploding seed plant, for the pretty fan lizards, who followed them through the twinkling jungle.  It was comical to watch them as they twisted in a spiral motion.  The most clever fan lizards anticipated the trajectory. The four chopper pilots remarked that they were leading their targets for intercept. They were (half)joking about using a spiral movement of their choppers in the same manner.  The conversation turned towards becoming hunters, ni'Na'vi, like the Na'vi. Now that Ikxeru had claimed Tai and Varu'itan to be ready, what was the next step? 
   A Council Fire was started for aytoronyu. Varu'itan and Tai flanked Eyktan Ikxeru.  "Mefo, you two, will climb AyRam Alusìng, Floating Mountains, and go Iknamaya with us." Ateyo translated this as Stairway to Heaven, which only served to puzzle them more. "That is where the ikran live.  An ikran will choose you, and you must subdue it and make tsaheylu with it, so that you will be bonded for life.
   "Excellent! How will I know if the ikran has chosen me?" asked Tai.  As one voice, the aytaronyu, the hunters, responded, "HE WILL TRY TO KILL YOU!"  This caused much laughter among them, which made the humans somewhat uncomfortable, except Tai and Taifa' who were grinning at each other.  They were both hunters and  warriors, and loved a challenge. "Taifa', I need to watch you take down prey and hear you pray." Ateyo translated the words to make them rhyme. She fancied herself quite the wordsmith.  Which was small consolation. She had tried to tame an ikran on two occasions.  Though she could hunt small game and recite the proper thanks for her kill, her small stature prevented her from successfully bonding with an ikran. Ikxeru continued. "We will probably wait until after we have returned from travel to the Ramunong Vitralyä, the Well of Souls. By then, I hope to have at least Taifa'  among us,  I have seen him hunt, but I am not yet satisfied that he knows the proper words in Na'vi to say after a kill. I want you three, pxefo, to teach him the words." Eyktan Ikxeru gazed at Ateyo, Tai, and Varu'itan. They all nodded in agreement, each feeling honored to have that responsibility to convey the tradition. "Are there any other questions?"
  "Srane!  I want to learn how to jump and fall through the trees like a true Na'vi." said Tai. 
   "You being with Ateyo. Txantsan climber and jumper. She teaching you tomorrow and all days."

Ateyo Te Syaksyuk

 140)~ Ateyo gave Tai a good night kiss just before twenty-two hundred hours.  "You being pumpkin soon?"  She still didn't know what a pumpkin was, she was simply repeating a word that Tai had used. "Srane. Hahaw sìltsan, Ma oeyä yawnetu. Tomorrow we will go to the Omatikaya Kelutral. Tomorrow afternoon AFTER you show me how to jump through the trees."
   Ateyo couldn't hide her grin. Neither could the Evi!  "We show Tai for spä!" Jump!
   "Set, ayoeng hahaw ko, Ma Evi!" Now, let's all go to sleep, Kids.
   "Hayalovey! Mi rewon." Until later, in the morning, promised Tai.  They snuggled together until Tai's body went limp and still.  Sighing. Ateyo curled next to her all night.~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   "G'd evening, Major!  How was yer trip?" The Aussie was genuinely pleased to see Major Tai.  "Did you remember to give our message to Tweety and Tobi-san?!
   "Yes indeed!  And I have good news!  When I come to pick you up in the chopper tomorrow, they will be switching out with you for the entire week."  Melvin and Diana were nearly dancing for joy. "Just to clarify, I want all the ... oh yum, lima beans and ham... I want all mechanics, support personnel, communications, refuelers, and Dr. Feelgoode, everyone here to be ready tomorrow morning.  We will be skids up no later than 1200 hours. But I need to get my sweet young bohunkus to the comm shack and talk to Blue Heart Gate."
  "You WILL finish eating first! um Major, ma'am!" Diana realized that she was commanding a military officer and wondered, actually, whether she would comply. "Um doctor's orders."
   The Major grinned at Diana's discomfiture.  "Yeeesss Mother! Relax!  I understand. I'm eating for two.  But I want the ISV crew to be notified as well. So I've got to hit the comm shack. WHEN I'm done eating."  By this time Taifa' and Ka'alani and Captain Janet Henderson had shown up.
   "Um. I hope I'm not getting too personal, but earlier this afternoon, Major, your vitals went off the chart." Melvin looked embarrassed. "Were you running a race ? Or SOMETHING?" he said with a mischievous grin.
   "Kehe! Just sport fishing!"  She let the others describe the ordeal as she walked to the Comm Shack.