It's been a couple of days since I first woke up in the Hometree and finally I decided to leave the hammock I was lying on.
There was a constant, low-frequency thrum of millions of insects, and the rustle of leaves inside, with the clan's distant murmur going about their day.
My feet touched the worn, smooth wood of the branch. My spine popped, a sound like a dry branches snapping.
I groaned, a long rumbling sound of satisfaction mixed with lingering soreness. I rolled my shoulders, feeling the phantom weight of armor that wasn't there.
I was dressed only in a simple lioncloth the Omaticaya had provided, which felt breezy to say the least.
"Okay," I muttered to myself, rubbing the back of my neck. "Legs still work. That's a plus. Now, let's see the rest of the house."
I stepped out of the alcove and really looked.
From the ground, Hometree had been impressive. From the inside, it was humbling. The central spiral twisted upward like a wooden tornado, vast and ancient.
Sunlight filtered through the upper canopy in shafts of green and gold, illuminating flaoting spores and dust motes.
I walked up the to what I assumed was stairs and continued to the edge of a branch walkway.
Some omaticaya natives looking at me with curiousity.
Looking down, the ground was dizzying drop below.
"Not bad," I admitted, a grudging respect in my voice. "A bit drafty, but its solid."
As I turned, I realized I had an audiece.
Dozens of Omaticaya were watching me. They stood on higher branches, peeked from behind woven screens, or paused in their task on the lower levels. Their golden eyes were wide, tracking my every move.
I was taller than them– significantly so.
Even the warriors, who carried themselved with pride of apex predators, looked small next to my bulk. My skin was a shade of twilight purple that clashed with their vibrant blue.
"Take a picture," I said lazily, offereing a small wave. "Or draw me on a branch, it lasts longer."
Most of them didn't understand the idiom, but the gesture seemed to break the tension slightly.
A few younger children giggled, hiding behind their parents' tails.
"They stare because they have never seen one like you."
The voice came from behind. Kaelen turned to find Eytukan and Mo'at standing near the entrance to the communal area.
The Clan Leader and the Tsahik.
Eytukan's face was a mask of stoic judgment. Mo'at however, looked at me with a piercing intensity, as if she were trying to read my soul thorugh my skin.
"Can't blame them," I said, leaning cassually against a thick root. "I'm pretty sure I'm the weirdest thing that's happened to this neihborhood in a while."
Eytukan stepped forward.
"My daughte, Sylwanin, has spoken of you deeds," Eytukan said, his voice deep and resonating in the hollows of the tree.
"You stood against the Sky people. You saved the children when the metal walkers came. For this, the Omaticaya are grateful."
"It was nothing," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "Literally. I stood there. I'm not even sure how I did it."
"It was not nothing," Mo'at interjected, stepping up beside her mate. "You posses a power we do not know. A spirit that moves the air."
She looked up at me, her eyes narrowing. "You are welcome here, stranger. You may stay within the roots of Kelutral until your body is whole, we have decided for now you are under our protection."
I nodded. "I appreciate the hospitality. Beast sleeping in the mud."
"But," Eytukan pressed, his gaze hardening. "We must know. Who are you? From which clan do you hail? There are no people of your skin I have ever seen. Are you from the stars, like the Sky people?"
I opened my mouth to answer.
Flashes.
A vast, black void speckled with white. A hum of an engine. A blurried face smiling at me. And then fire, and the sensation of falling.
I grimiced, bringing a hand to my temple as a sharp headache spiked behind my eyes again.
"I…" I started, then sighed, dropping my hand. The arrogance bled out of my posture. "I wish I knew Chief. I really do. I remember light, I remember falling, ambushed maybe. And as I told you my name was Kaelen. Beyond that? It's just static."
I looked at my hands, clenching and unclenching my fists.
"I dont't think I have a clan," I said quietly. "I think... I think I might be the only one."
The words hung in the air.
To the Na'vi, for whom connection and clan were everything, the idea of being truly alone was more terrifying than any predator.
Mo'at's expression softened, just a fraction. "A man without a song is a lost spirit." But you are here now. Perhaps Eywa has a reason for your falling."
"Yeah," I snorted softly, regaining my composure. "Maybe."
Sylwanin appeared then, emerging from the shadows of the upper walkway.
"Father, Mother," she said, bowing slightly. She turned to me, her eyes bright. "If you are strong enough to walk, I can show you the Hometree. You should know where you sleep, rather than the alcove."
Eytukan nodded to his daughter. "Go. Teach him our ways. But watch him, Sylwanin. He is powerful but he is a child in our world."
"Come," Sylwanin said, gesturing for me to follow.
The tour was… educational.
Sylwanin led me through the twisting levels of the Hometree. She showed me the communal cooking pits, making my stomach grown loudly. She showed me the weaving circles, where they create hammocks and clothes.
I walked with my hands clasped behind my back, ducking under low-hanging roots.
"You live… simply," I observed, watching a group of hunters fletching arrows.
"We live with what Eywa gives," Sylwanin corrected. "The forest provides everything. Food, shelter, weapons. Why would we need more?"
"I don't know," I shrugged before I remembered something.
I paused, looking down at my chest. Bare chest, I felt exposed and naked.
"Hey," I said, stopping in my tracks. "My… shell. The silver skin I was wearing when you found me. The one that was cracked, I saw it at the alcove when I first woke up."
Sylwanin nodded. "The hard skin. The hunters stipped it from you. It was heavy, very heavy. We placed it near the roots away from the sleeping circles when you were sleeping. It… hums. It makes the animals nervous."
"Can I see it?" I asked. "I feel… incomplete without it."
Sylwanin hesitated, then nodded. "Follow me."
We descended to the lower levels, near the base of the great tree where the roots formed massive caverns. In a secluded hollow, away from the main thoroughfares, lay the remains of my armor.
It was a mess. The silver and violet plating was scorche, dented, and cracked. The half helmet lay on its side, the visor shattered. It looked broken.
I knelt before it. Being this close to it triggered something deep in my brain, a sense of recognition that went beyond memory.
"Poor girl," I whispered, reaching out. "You toook a beating for me, didn't you?"
"It is broken," Sylwanin said softly, standing a few feet back. She eyes the armor with distrust. "It is dead metal."
"Probably." I murmured.
I reached out and placed my large hand on the chest plate of the suit.
I expected cold metal. I expected the rough texture of slag.
Instead, the moment my skin touched the armor, a shockwave of blue light pulsed through the silver plating.
Connection established. Biometric Verify: Kaelen. 99% match.
The voice wasn't in my ears, I feel it in my very teeth, in my very bones.
Suddenly, the armor moved.
Sylwanin grasped and jumped back, her hand flying to her knife. "Kaelen!"
The solid metal plates didn't shatter rather they dislloved. The armor broke down into millions of tiny, shimmering particles that flowed like liquid mercury. They swarmed over my hand, crawling up my arm in a violet and silver tide.
"Whoa, whoa, easy!" I shouted, trying to shake my had, but the substance held on.
It didn't hurt. It felt… cold. Then warm. The nit felt like nothing at all. The swarmed moved up my arm, over my shoulder, and sank into my skin.
The metal vanished into my pores. My skin shimmered with a faint, hexagonal lattive pattern for a plit second, then return to normal violet hue.
THe pire of armor was gone. Absorbed.
I knelt there, staring at my arm. I flexed my fingers.
I felt… heavier. The low-level headache I've had all day vanished instantly.
"It feels… good." I said unconsciously.
"What…" Sylwanin breathed, her eyes wide with horror. "It… it ate you. Or you ate it?"
I stood up.
"I don't know what happened." Looking at where the armor was lying before. "I think? It's part of me."
I looked at Sylwanin, seeing the fear in her eyes. I quickly raised my hands, palms open.
"It's okay," I said, "I'm okay. It's harmless."
'I think.' I said mentally.
"That is not natural," Sylwanin whispered, backing away a step. "That is not of Eywa."
"No," I agreed somberly. "It definitely isn't"
I closed my eyes focusing inward. I felt something building up inside me.
A pull, a faint distress signal pinging in the back of my mind like a compass neddle poinding north.
I opened my eyes, and looked past Sylwanin, out thorugh the gap in the roots toward the dense, dangerous jungle.
"Sylwanin," I said, my voice serious.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Whats north of here? Is there happen to be a huge cliff there? "
"Yeah" Sylwanin pointed vaguely toward the mountains. "It is far. In the territory of the Palulukan. Why?"
I stared into the distance, my violet eyes glowing faintly.
"…"