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Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah. I don't own Avatar; James Cameron does. All the Avatar stuff belongs to him. However, my Na'vi character, myself, the Dragon Weyr and its technologies, and the Pandoran animals of my menagerie are all mine. The Protoss - apart from my characters - all belong to Blizzard Entertainment.

Pandora's Templar

A Work-In-Progress Story by Coranth Dehanae

Chapter 10

(Continued from Chapter 9...)

My frustration mounting, I resumed my pacing. 'I need to locate Oo'ano and get him to take me to the place where the Palulukan was killed; I need to see it for myself!' I thought. A feeling of affirmation from the Dragon Weyr filled my thoughts for a moment, before said feeling faded into negation - the great construct's way of saying, "Yes, you do, but not like this!" Ceasing my pacing, I blew out a gusty sigh. "You're right, my friend; with the way I'm feeling now - if I visited the place - I wouldn't have a clear head and I might miss something, some crucial detail. It... It's just so frustrating!" Acknowledgement and sympathy flowed into my mind, then, and I stopped pacing to lean against a workbench, resting my head in my hands.

I'm not sure how long I stood there - my thoughts whirling in a jumbled chaotic mass - but soon, a gentle prodding from the Dragon Weyr pulled me back to reality. Raising my head from my palms, I softly said, "Thank you, my friend." A feeling of welcome flowed into my thoughts, and I basked in it for a moment, before coming to a decision. "You know what? Pack it up, and put that tissue sample into stasis; I'm going for a walk to clear my head." At my request the Dragon Weyr did so; as its acknowledgement filled my thoughts, the construct saved the data it had gathered on the tissue sample within its nigh-infinite memory, before carefully shifting the tissue sample into a sterile stasis chamber.

Seconds later, the chamber activated, suspending the tissue sample within a glittering field of psychic power in order to preserve said sample until I was ready to resume work with it. As I packed away the equipment and glassware I had used during the many tests I had run upon it, I smiled to myself. 'No need to worry about contamination of, or cleaning of, this equipment', I thought, 'the Dragon Weyr will clean and maintain it all, thank the Gods.' Once the space I was using had been cleared, and everything had been packed away to my satisfaction, I opened my mouth in a jaw-cracking yawn. 'Ugh... Damn; I feel like I've been in here for years!' I thought. 'That scanner's no miracle machine; it's a medical device normally used to check patients for genetic disorders - such as Cystic Fibrosis, Down syndrome, and Osteosclerosis Congenita - which might be able to be cured with genetic therapy.

I'm surprised that I was even able to get it to work with that tissue, much less get the data that I did with it. Aside from that, I've been in here all morning running all manner of tests - physical, biological, and chemical... and I'm not even sure that I ran the majority of them correctly! I'm no good with this shit; Ieesha was the real scientist here, not me, and if it weren't for all her notes on how to use all this stuff I'd be hosed! I'll take building good solid tech in the Cybernetics Facility and Machine Shop over this bio-science shit any day...' Scowling darkly with that thought in mind, I swiftly exited the Laboratory, and then made my way down and out of the Dragon Weyr.

Once outside the great Nexus, I stopped for a moment to take a deep, deep, cleansing breath of the fresh Pandoran air and look around. As I did so I couldn't help but smile at what I saw. Not all Na'vi lived within the great kelutrels, or 'Home Trees' of Pandora. Such was the case with my Clan; although a few stayed with me in the Dragon Weyr, the majority of family groups of Tawkami lived in a village of thípis - absolutely enormous conical tents crafted from all manners of wood, bone, and animal hide - arranged tastefully about the Dragon Weyr. 'It seems a bit cliché - these aliens that live akin to the native American Indians of Earth living in these of all things - but they're damn useful... and cozy, too!' I thought. The thípis were indeed warm and cozy; I knew this as I had slept in the one belonging to Txe'lan's family at their behest - they had practically demanded that I stay with them for a time - during the period in which I was still grieving over the loss of Sa'nok.

I had politely refused of course - I hadn't wanted to impose upon them at all - but my refusal had been all for naught; Txe'lan's Mother, Sunu, had bodily picked me up, brought me into her family's thípi, and had then placed me down next to Txe'lan in her Nivi! My sleep that particular night - with Txe'lan spooning gently against me - had been one of the best I'd ever had in my life. In addition to being warm and cozy dwellings, the thípis employed by Clan Tawkami were downright useful. They not only served as great homes, but they could also be used as storage houses for certain foods, and were portable; with frightening speed they could be disassembled and packed away on the backs of Fa'li when the Clan decided to move and could be reconstructed quickly when the Clan settled in a new area; a trait particularly useful when following Pandoran game migrations, especially the talioang and yerik.

Between and around the thípis, Na'vi children laughed and played hunting games, sang simple songs, or chased each other with toy banshees as from the entrances of said thípis, their parents looked on, or joked, laughed and gossiped with each other. The sight of all this life around me eased my frustrations at the mystery I faced, and my steps lightened. Several of the great tents were occupied, with smoke rising from their tops, the Na'vi within no doubt cooking steaks cut from the haunches of the many yerik Oo'ano and his group had hunted for the Clan. A few of the thípis weren't occupied, however; a content sigh escaped me as I strode past Lompor's tent and saw that his family was outside it.

He was carefully cleaning his great psi-steel spear whilst his mate, Maena, weaved a basket as she watched over her young children whom were playing gently with some Viperwolf pups. As Lompor caught sight of me, he stopped his work to give me a wave. "Kaltxi, Olo'eyktan!" he said. "Where are you going this fine day?" Having no real destination in mind, I shrugged before answering, "Eh, nowhere in particular; I'm just taking a walk. I might head over to the Wolvery, actually." Lompor nodded, and then he resumed his work. The building known simply as the Wolvery was a huge, open, and airy place, filled with dens occupied by healing and orphaned Viperwolves of all ages. As I entered the place - "Oof!" - I was knocked flat to the grass that served as the building's floor by several Viperwolf pups, much to the amusement of the Na'vi whom helped care for the place and the animals within!

After much licking and pawing from the Viperwolf pups, and much laughter from the Na'vi caretakers, said Na'vi - a mated pair whose names were Tx'ontaw and Shaya - finally rescued me, hauling me to my feet. "Kaltxi Olo'eyktan!" they said respectfully, once I was standing. "Ngaru lu fpom srak?" Looking up at them both, I grinned before answering, "I am well. The pups haven't chewed me up yet..." At this, both Na'vi laughed heartily. When, at last, I emerged from that place - after spending nearly four hours there, playing with the many pups and helping Tx'ontaw and Shaya tend to and care for the juvenile and adult Viperwolves - it was with a clear mind and rejuvenated spirit.

Feeling energized and ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead, I swiftly located Oo'ano and asked him to take me to where he'd seen the body of the mutilated Palulukan. Somewhat reluctantly, he agreed to do so. "As your Palulukan Sa'nok is with Eywa, ma Olo'eyktan, we shall travel by Pa'li" he said as we and his group of senior hunters headed over to the Pa'li stable. After their medical treatment had been completed several Fa'li - whose injuries had once ranged from cracked hooves to amputated legs - had chosen to stay with us and provide transport to any Na'vi who needed to be somewhere in a hurry. These mighty Direhorses, one of whom was my own Beauty, now resided within the great barnlike structure known as the Pa'li stable where, like the Viperwolves in the Wolvery, they were extremely well cared for.

Currently, all the Fa'li were all outside, grazing on the sweet nectar flowers in the field aside the stable; thus, as we arrived, we heard them before we saw them! As they caught sight of Oo'ano, his group and I they raced over to meet us all, the sound of their great feet like thunder as they pummeled the ground. When they reached us the great animals congregated around us, the majority bumping and nudging Oo'ano and his men affectionately in greeting. One Pa'li however, did not, and this was Beauty, the formerly blind Pa'li whose sight I had restored with Bio-System Cybernetics oh so long ago. Instead of nuzzling me exuberantly like the others - as Oo'ano and his men looked on in amazement - Beauty lay down on her front such that she could be at eye level with me.

Then, and only then did she deign to nuzzle me, the soft brushing of her alien muzzle to my cheek amazingly gentle, and definitely affectionate! "Hey, beautiful," I murmured, "how've you been, eh? Have the others been treating you right?" Beauty blinked her four Bio-System eyes - which were indistinguishable from those of a real Pa'li but for the conductive circuitry pathways that could just be seen within the irises if one were to look closely - and then, to my surprise she nodded slowly before kiss-licking my face with her long, giraffe-like tongue! "Ugh," I replied, gently wiping the thick saliva from my face, "... I love you, too, girl!" That said, I returned her affectionate gesture, placing a soft kiss upon the bridge of her snout! With the 'meet-and-greet' done, Oo'ano and his men carefully checked over leather and psi-steel tack for damage and then gently harnessed those Pa'li they would need to make the journey.

Oo'ano offered to let me ride with him for the duration - an offer that I would have gladly accepted - but, to my surprise, 'my' Pa'li, Beauty, protested! Crying out in anger, she forcefully nudged Oo'ano's stallion aside and then lay down before me, gesturing with her head insistently to her back! "Ha-ha," Oo'ano laughed, once he'd managed to get his animal settled again, "it looks like you won't be riding with me after all, Olo'eyktan; your 'Beauty' wants to carry you herself!" Eyes wide, I turned to look at Beauty, whom was once again lying down in front of me, vocalizing softly as she gestured to her back. "But I... I've never ridden you before; I might fall off and break my neck, girl!" The Direhorse snorted - as if to say, "yeah, right" - and Oo'ano chuckled before managing to respond, "Do not worry, ma tsmukan, we will watch over you."

And so, despite my protests, that was that. I'm not sure how he did it, or even where he got it from, but somehow, Oo'ano managed to acquire a Pa'li saddle sized for a Na'vi child that - with help from the others - he swiftly affixed to Beauty's back. He then helped me mount her, before the elephant-sized Pa'li stood up, and up, and up... Whilst the ground fell away from beneath me as Beauty rose to her six feet, suddenly, I felt a feeling of the deepest calm sweep over me; something I hadn't felt since I'd first properly ridden Sa'nok. 'Damn... I've got to learn to properly ride an animal again' I thought as I gently took Beauty's two neural whips in hand to use as reins, 'because it sure beats walking...' I was pulled from my thoughts, however, as Oo'ano - now seated astride his own Pa'li - turned to face me. "By your word, Olo'eyktan!" he said crisply.

Nodding to him, I replied, "Take us out!" He needed no further prompting. "Kämakto!" He shouted to his men. Then - with Oo'ano leading and his men arranged about Beauty and I for protection - we left the comfort of the Homestead and rode out into the wilderness of Pandora. The journey to where the mutilated body of the Palulukan rested took several hours, because we travelled slowly, partially due to the reluctance of Oo'ano and his men to return to a 'cursed' place, and partially for my benefit such that I could become used to riding Beauty. We smelt the desiccated corpse before we saw it; a fetid stench of rotting meat overlaid with the smell of putrid decay!

When they, too, smelt it, the Fa'li balked and refused to travel any further, no matter how much Oo'ano and his men attempted to gently coax them to do so through their bonds of Tsaheylu with the great animals. Even my own Beauty refused to move; she simply lay down and gestured for me to dismount. We would all have to travel on foot. Once we'd all dismounted, the Fa'li moved away to wait for us, leaving us on our own. That in itself wasn't a bad thing at all; we would find them again when we were done, and I was with Oo'ano and his men, so we would all be relatively fine. No... The bad thing was the smell. 'By the Grace of Adun and Eywa,' I thought in horror as I fought the instinct of my body to heave, 'it's... it's...'

The Nanocyte Filter would not help me, at all; it was designed simply to filter out the dangerous components of Pandora's atmosphere so that I could respire safely within it. Therefore, in a desperate attempt to escape the utterly rancid smell, I swiftly broke out my Field Medical Kit and took from it a portable Gas Mask. After expanding it to full size by touching a glyph-inscribed button on its outer surface, I swiftly held my breath, donned the mask, and then exhaled hard to purge any contaminants from its interior. After that, I checked the edges of the mask for good contact with my skin, to detect potential leaks... and then, I heaved a sigh of relief, as the filter within the mask filtered out everything harmful within the air, including the god-awful smell!

As I finished securing and checking my mask, to my surprise, I noticed Oo'ano and his men doing the same with their own, though their 'masks' were far more primitive than mine; simple plant-fiber bags filled with wood charcoal, which they secured tightly to their heads via talioang leather straps. 'Hmmm... It seems a bit unusual that a group of hunters would be carrying around primitive Gas Masks,' I thought to myself, 'but then again, when you're on a long hunt for talioang or yerik, or whatever, you never know what you might encounter. It's always good to be prepared...' I'm not going into details; I prefer to spare you all that of exactly how the great Palulukan had been dismembered. The sight of that poor animal... it was simply too horrible for mere words to describe.

Suffice it to say that the scene was worse than Oo'ano had described, far, far worse. Wanting to leave this gruesome place, Oo'ano and I worked swiftly to record and document everything we could about this supposed crime scene. Whilst his group guarded us from without, the Master Hunter - although he found it somewhat distasteful - took samples of everything from the corpse under my instruction. With tools from my Medical Kit, he took samples of tissue, saliva, blood, tooth enamel scrapings - the works - and stored each sample within a small sterile container. "I know that you find what I ask you to do distasteful, ma tsmukan," I said to him soothingly, as I took multiple images of the damage done to the poor Palulukan with the Image Record function of my Medical Bio-Scanner.

"But I ask you to do this for good reason. We can study the images and samples in the Lab at home and perhaps the information gained from them will help us find out more about what happened here." As he continued his unpleasant task, Oo'ano nodded slowly, his resolve unwavering. "I understand, now, why you have asked this of me, ma Olo'eyktan," he replied as he stored yet another sample away in a tiny container, "and I agree with you; Txra'kon We'er's power is indeed great and it will surely be able to help. When we are done here, however, we will not leave the vessel of our brother's spirit here to rot like this; we must return his body to Eywa to ensure his spirit is calm when he returns to her side."

This, then, was what we did; once we'd finished collecting as many samples and images as we were able, Oo'ano gave a call to his men, and then together, we prepared and - dare I say it - mummified the body of the Palulukan for a proper burial. Even with his men helping, the procedure was long and grueling but in the end it was worth it, as several atokirina settled upon the prepared corpse and Eywa's vines rose to embrace it. When this happened, just for a moment - in my mind's eye - I thought I saw the much relieved spirit of the Palulukan as it nodded to me in respect and thanks, before turning to run towards a great, all-encompassing tree... Then, I shook my head and blinked. At this Oo'ano turned to regard me curiously. "Ma Olo'eyktan, are you well?" he enquired. "Y-... Yes, I'm fine, ma tsmukan," I answered, "just tired. Let's go home."