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Post by Toruk Makto on Apr 24, 2010 20:12:08 GMT -5
Jake followed Neytiri to observe the new avatar for a time. He sat near his mate on a high root overlooking the river some distance from the Hometree.
After a short while he said, "I must go now, my love. I must help Katja transport an avatar pod for George. We should be back before sunfall." He kissed his mate on the forehead and placed a hand to her belly before he left.
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Post by Makto Fa'lihu on Apr 24, 2010 20:12:55 GMT -5
George climbed onto the pa'li and made tsaheylu. The animal reared back and he fell off, landing heavily on his wounded arm.
He grunted in pain, murmuring , "Oh crap", as he scrambled to his feet. The pa'li danced lightly away, but George managed to catch him and once again climbed back on. He tried it again, taking time to calm his mind and visualize peaceful thoughts.
This time the animal relaxed. George sat there and waited for instructions, looking at Tsa'krrtep. She was staring at the pa'li, frowning, but made no attempt to speak to him.
George's hand slid along the pa'li's tough withers and he patted it. The animal was a true beauty, with shadings of different purples and grays. This was the first time ever he had been on a horse-like animal.
He tried not to make a fool of himself. Despite Tsa'krrtep's feigned indifference and her angry outburts, he tried to enjoy his teacher's company. I can get used to this, he thought. I will make this work. If I ever want a place to call home, a family to belong to, I HAVE to make this work...
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Post by Makto Fa'lihu on Apr 24, 2010 20:13:43 GMT -5
Tsa'krrtep rolled her eyes at his first attempt, "Skxawng" she muttered under her breath. Once he was on she was slightly taken aback and upset that this creature would accept him, an alien.
She sneered and when George wasn't looking, she slapped the back of the horse to agitate it; to her balance was key. Guiding through tsaheylu was a simple task - to her at least - but to perform advanced techniques one must have good balance.
Neytiri smiled at Tsa'krrtep's movements. She remembered Jake's first few attempts. He had awful balance and couldn't even stay seated for a few seconds the first time he attempted. Then again, the fact he was slightly nervous didn't help his situation. She was excited to see the outcome of the newcomer's training.
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Post by Toruk Makto on Apr 24, 2010 20:14:27 GMT -5
Jake went into Hometree and radioed his avatar pilot. Despite her size, she can still pilot the one Samson that was kept active and hidden; a tight fit, yes, but used regularly for transport and supplies. It was used several times to move the confiscated ammunition and weapons from Hell's Gate soon after the humans were forced to leave, when he was still an avatar driver. It was also used to pull several of the nearby VLink Pods to form a complex of seven connected pods.
Also, they had confiscated four of the avatar sized Vlink Pods complete with solar power arrays and generators, for when avatar bodies became too beaten during their training to become Omatikaya. Jake needed one of those brought closer to Hometree so George could use it to make his necessary VLogs among other things.
The radio crackled and the familiar voice of the pilot came over the wire. Female, mated and pregnant about a month.
"How can I help you Jake?" was the reply.
He explained the circumstance and she told him she had already heard rumors of a new arrival for training. Her voice revealed a bit of surprise in asking where he came from, where he was.
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Post by Toruk Makto on Apr 26, 2010 19:47:23 GMT -5
Jake walked over to the landing area where the Samson has been stored away. The foliage around this thicket was extremely thick to prevent unwanted sightings. Katja Connors, the pilot, was already there and the vent covers were off. She had climbed into the cockpit and was running standard systems checks for pre-flight.
"Yeah, we're gonna need at least two, maybe three VLink pods brought over with supplies and two of the avatar VLink pods for our new guest. Gonna try to make him as much at home as possible," he mentioned to her, then climbed into the open back troop carrier area of the tilt-rotor aircraft.
"Roger that, Jake. How have things been? Haven't seen much of you lately." she asked.
"Pretty good, Neytiri is as beautiful as ever, and the pregnancy is going well. Tomorrow we go to Hell's Gate. Gotta get things rolling with the new humans that have landed." She, as all of the other avatars turned Na'vi, and the entire rest of the clan already knew of this. "And you? How are you doing?"
"Eylikan'a and I are wonderful." She flipped some switches and the rotors started to spin and they were up in the air in seconds.
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Post by Makto Fa'lihu on Apr 26, 2010 19:49:06 GMT -5
George tried again and again. He punctuated his training session with occasional yells of, "Crap", "Darn it" and "Ouch!!"
No matter how he tried, he could not keep his seat. Persistance paid off, however. It wasn't until much later in the lesson that he discovered by leaning forward and gripping the pa'li's barrel with his heels just behind its forearms, that he could manage to stay reasonably well seated. This time he had it. He managed to stay and rode around for a bit.
"Yeah, check it out!!" he shouted. "I finally got it I think..."
He returned to his teacher and dismounted, disconnecting his queue and waiting for her next instructions.
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Post by Neytiri on Jun 1, 2010 22:53:13 GMT -5
Tsa'krrtep turned her back to George as he dismounted. Clumsy, he was. Any Na'vi child could learn more quickly than he did. Hearing his footsteps approach her, she stiffened. The pa'li shifted its weight nervously and snorted, sensing the tension in Tsa'krrtep's hands as she pretended to brush bits of dust from its mighty armored withers.
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Post by Makto Fa'lihu on Jun 2, 2010 10:00:09 GMT -5
"Well that was fun," he said laughing. He patted the pa'li on the neck. Dipping his hand into a long tubular flower, he withdrew sweet nectar and allowed the pa'li to lick it off his fingers with its long tongue.
He then walked to his teacher, without another word.
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Post by Neytiri on Jun 2, 2010 10:49:47 GMT -5
Out of the corner of her eye, Tsa'krrtep could see Neytiri watching them. Her white-hot fury at being forced to instruct him had cooled only slightly...just enough for her to exert some control over her reaction to him.
Slowly and deliberately she turned toward him.
"Fun? You call that fun? This pa'li, look at her! You think she had fun? No! You could not keep your seat on her. You have no balance. You were clumsy at giving her commands!" Tsa'krrtep did not try to soften her resentment and contempt now. "And you want to be taronyu! How do you think you will bow hunt from a pa'li when you cannot even keep your seat without your alien hands clamped to her neck?" Tsa'krrtep is glaring at him. "Ugh," she turns away in disgust.
Too far away to hear the words, Neytiri can see Tsa'krrtep's reaction only too well. She sighed. George had his work cut out for him if he was to win Tsa'krrtep's friendship, let alone more. Maybe it would be enough that he learned the skills to become Omatikaya. Maybe it was too much to hope he could warm the heart of such a gruff and uncompromising karyu as Tsa'krrtep. She would talk to her Jake about this, she thought.
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Post by Makto Fa'lihu on Jun 2, 2010 23:17:31 GMT -5
George looked at Tsa'krrtep. "I am trying my best. It is going to take some time. I had never ridden an animal such as this before." His eyes turned to the ground as he frowned. "Maybe you can show me the proper way?"
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Post by Neytiri on Jun 3, 2010 0:42:35 GMT -5
Tsa'krrtep stood stock still, her back to George. Her jaw clenched, her hands were fists. Slowly she turned to face him and he could see the hard, cold look in her eyes.
"Just WHAT do you think we've been doing?" There was ice in her voice. "We have spent hours working on this and you.....you....." Her mouth clamps shut. She has no words to express her outrage.
She saw Neytiri watching them intently. Taking a deep breath, she shot George a biting look. And with that, she stalked off onto the path back to Hometree.
George watched Tsa'krrtep recede into the distance. He sighed heavily and looked at the ground. So lost in his thoughts was he that it startled him when he felt a light touch on his shoulder.
"Ma George," said Neytiri as he looked up. "How is it going? Are you learning much?"
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Post by Makto Fa'lihu on Jun 3, 2010 0:45:26 GMT -5
"Yes I am learning a lot, but I feel as I am not performing to her standard. I am trying my best but I do not seem to be getting this right. My balance seems to be a bit off. I can't stay on the pa'li. Got any advice for a skxawng like myself?" He stared at her.
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Post by Toruk Makto on Jun 3, 2010 1:20:10 GMT -5
The tilt rotor lifted above the trees and Katja made her typical circular pass around the two trees just below main branch level into the shade then banked to the east deeper into the Flux. Floating mountains grew larger as Iknimaya neared; the pods had been placed under this mountain to keep any satellites from detecting their metal signature, just in case they actually could.
Katja expertly handled the controls and she began to lower the aircraft to the ground cleared for the units. Jake disembarked and she lifted back up and lowered the stanchion cables as Jake climbed onto the roof of the first pod at the end of the line. No humans were here right now so he didn't bother with the seals as his unit detached from another and slowly lifted into the air, with Jake still on the roof.
- - - radios on between the two- - -
"Where to, Jake? " Katja's voice was somewhat crackly in the static caused by the EM fluctuations.
"There is a clearing near the river where we gather our water. I think that would be good. No large trees to maneuver around and plenty of space for all the units to connect." Jake replied, probably a bit too loud over his ear and throat piece due to the sound of the rotors above him.
"Roger that!" she responded, more clearly this time.
Glancing about, making sure she avoided drifting boulders and the larger rock chips, she drew up the collective control stick, at the same time pushing the cyclic control stick slightly forward, raising the tilt rotor craft gently. With the floor- mounted tail pedals, she changed the pitch of the rear rotors and glided in an elevating arc to the position Jake indicated.
Several long minutes passed then Hometree was on the horizon and grew closer with each passing minute. The craft flew right past Hometree towards the river which will was about a ten minute foot walk from it. The craft lowered and the gentle thud of each of the pods' feet touched the ground and Jake unhitched the cables.
At Jake's thumb's up signal, Katja flicked a switch to rewind the cables. As they drew up, she banked the aircraft deeply and headed back to the thicket where she would once again conceal the craft from casual view. Heading back, she marveled at the constantly changing scenery which kept Iknimaya an interesting but potentially deadly place to fly.
Jake walked over to the thicket and arrived about a half hour later. By this time, the craft was now in cool down mode, fans blowing but the rotors still. Katja was doing her usual walk around, testing the gun mounts to make sure they are securely in place and then headed aft, her hand never leaving the smooth metal skin of her Samson.
"I am going to tell our new arrival that we have a home for him here now and that tomorrow after we go to Hell's Gate we will be able to bring his tawtute body back here. I would like you to get Norm and Peyral to help you hook up the rest and get them over to the one we just moved. Then the three of you will fly the Samson to the landing strip between the Mine and remain there until you hear from me. Leave the transponder off and stay in the trees when you know the rotors can't be heard in the base, I don't want to alarm them," Jake says.
Leaning now against the cool metal of her craft, Katja nodded, then patted her 'baby'. It's a good plan, and she was eager to work on it.
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Post by Neytiri on Jun 3, 2010 2:10:21 GMT -5
Neytiri didn't succeed in suppressing a smile. Jake had similar difficulty learning to sit his pa'li.
"George, my Jake was only so-so on his pa'li. But when he got his ikran, he found his spirit set free. He was made for flying, he told me. It may also be so with you."
Her hand on his shoulder provided some small comfort. He looked down at the ground and shook his head. She knew he was thinking of his teacher and her harsh treatment of him; she wished she could smooth that path for him, but that is something he will have to do for himself if they are ever to learn to get along. Again she thought of Jake; she knew he would like to know what happened. Perhaps he'd have some advice.
"Have patience, ma George. Stay true to your goal of becoming Omatikaya. Things will change. You will see." She patted him on the shoulder and walked off in Tsa'krrtep's wake, leaving George to sort out his thoughts and feelings about his teacher, his pa'li, ikrans, and the Omatikaya challenges which lay ahead.
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Post by Makto Fa'lihu on Jun 3, 2010 13:33:50 GMT -5
"Perhaps. We shall see in time." He nodded. "I am true to my word of becoming Omatikaya. It is what Grace wanted of me. I must go rest now. Take care of yourself and that baby." He bowed his head in respect and walked back to Hometree.
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