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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 15

(Continued from Chapter 14...)

In other words, the savage, monstrous bastards slithered back into their tunnel like the cowards they were! When they realized the un-Na'vi were retreating, the brave warriors of Clan Tawkami whooped and hollered with victorious cheer as they gave the enemy incentive to move faster... by viciously cutting down and hacking apart any stragglers who couldn't run fast enough! Finally, when all of the remaining un-Na'vi were gone - I watched, my eyes wide with incredulity - as the tunnel from which they had come began to close itself behind them! Once it was completely closed, nothing remained of where it once had been, save a few pieces of loose, scattered rock and debris. 'Was... was that Eywa's work?' I wondered, curiously. 'Did she do that? Ah, it doesn't matter...'

With a smile I shook my head as I allowed my Psionic Storm to disperse; we had won the day. As soon as that thought entered my mind, however, a frown creased my face, as I pondered what was still to come. 'The aftermath...' I thought, my frown turning into a grimace, 'and it's always far worse than the battle that preceded it...' As it turned out, my fears were correct: our victory was a pyrrhic one; the thípi village of Clan Tawkami lay in ruin, many of our finest warriors and beloved animal friends had been either critically wounded or killed, and even some of the modern buildings of the Homestead had been damaged, despite the protection afforded to them by their powerful psionic energy shields.

Even worse, during the chaos and confusion of battle - despite the evacuations which had successfully taken place - several of my Clan's females had been dragged underground by 'They who could not see', including Lompor's mate, Maena, and my beloved friend, Txe'lan, whom had ventured outside to help with said evacuations! All was not lost, however; many of my people yet lived, and so did many more of our beloved animals, including the 'core' of the menagerie. Immediately following the battle, the Dragon Weyr redeployed its army of Probes, whom swiftly began shifting the wounded through Warp Gates to the Clinic. There, the Clan's healers - whom were much disgruntled, as the Dragon Weyr had actually sealed them in there, rather than allowing them to fight - immediately began to assist the Autodoc with their treatment.

This served to buoy the spirits of my people, but the Na'vi of Clan Tawkami were even more heartened when - after the wounded had been dealt with - the powerful little Probes of the Dragon Weyr swiftly began to repair and set to right not only their thípi village, but also any of their possessions that had been smashed or lost and any parts of the Homestead that had been damaged during the battle. The actions of the army of Probes were met with suspicion, however, when they first analyzed - and then sent back through Warp Gates to the great Nexus - the clearly dead bodies of nearly all our fallen warriors and animal friends! This did not sit well with Tsa'hik San'eya, at all; in fact she was utterly incensed at the Dragon Weyr's actions!

"For what reason has Txra'kon We'er not allowed the Great Mother to take them? Why has it done this blasphemous thing?"_she said, her teeth bared in a snarl as she paced in front of me, whilst I sat before her on the Great Fleece Pile, roughly four nights after the battle. _"They should be allowed to rest with Eywa!" Rising to stand before her, I raised my hands in a placating gesture as I softly intoned, "Lu Mawey, ma tsmuken, lu mawey. I am sure that Txra'kon We'er has a reason for its actions..." I was merely stalling, however, because, truthfully, I was wondering at its actions myself. Why had the Dragon Weyr commanded its Probes to retrieve the majority of our dead, and left only those whom were too "damaged" to be taken by Eywa?

In curiosity, I sent a query to the mighty fortress via our psychic bond... but, to my surprise and chagrin, I was rebuffed as a feeling of dismissal filled my thoughts; something that usually only happened when the great Nexus was extremely busy. Clearly, it was. 'But what is it doing that could be so important?' I wondered. Oh, how I wished my beloved friend, Txe'lan, were here at this moment, for she had a way with the Dragon Weyr that I did not possess, and she could have, perhaps, persuaded the überfortress to reveal to me whatever it was that kept it so occupied. But, alas, she was not here, and so, I had to search elsewhere for an explanation. Said explanation came to me roughly several days later when the little girl, Sìlpey - Daughter of Tìrol and Taw - came tearing into the Weyrheart and stopped before us, panting, and out of breath!

After taking a moment to get her breath back, little Sìlpey bowed respectfully before San'eya and I and then, she began speaking so fast that we could barely keep up with her! What she told us was utterly incredible. After roaming through the deeper parts of the Dragon Weyr to explore, simply because she was bored and looking for something to do, the canny little girl had somehow ended up in Txe'lan's sanctum, deep within the great construct's crystalline Computer Core. "I felt like I had journeyed to a Na'rìng Aymokriyä," she said excitedly. "It was so beautiful! I... I made Tsaheylu with Txra'kon We'er there, and he asked me how I was. I told him I was fine... and then - he told me to tell you that... that he is sorry for being so quiet..." She lapsed into silence then, and gazed at the floor, shuffling her feet in nervousness. "And why is he being so quiet, ma Olo' 'Ite," I prodded, gently.

For a moment, Sìlpey did not reply; she just remained there silently, her head lowered. Then, finally, she raised her head to gaze at us with a mixture of awe and wonder, as she answered, "He told me that he took all our dead animals and people to his nawm fngap toktor. Txra'kon We'er said... he said that, if they were not too badly hurt, he could use the fngap toktor to return them to life!" In that instant, an epiphany struck me as I cottoned on to what she was talking about. 'Of course!' I thought, my own excitement rising. 'A Code White Resuscitation! I completely forgot about that. In simple terms - as long as the brain isn't damaged and the body is relatively intact - the Autodoc is able to revive and restore a person to health, roughly seventy three hours beyond what is considered to be death!'

Sensing my rising excitement, Tsa'hik San'eya leaned towards me, her golden-eyed gaze hawk-like. "What is it, ma Olo'eyktan?" she asked. Although I wasn't as good as Txe'lan when it came to explaining things such as this to the Na'vi - in a voice thick with the unbridled excitement I was feeling - I did my best to explain to the Tsa'hik of Eywa the incredible miracle that the Dragon Weyr was working, even as we spoke. San'eya, however, did not react well to what I had to say; on the contrary, her golden eyes widened as the expression on her face twisted into one of mixed incredulity and horror. As I looked on, she staggered away from me and then - clutching her hair with her hands - she began to hyperventilate! "B-But... but... Eywa!" she said as she struggled to breathe.

"Txra'kon We'er... They ... should... be... with... Eywa!" My excitement swiftly becoming great alarm, I moved towards the Tsa'hik to attempt to reason with her and calm her down but even as she gasped for breath, her strength was still great; she viciously shoved me away and I fell to the floor, the impact stealing the breath from my lungs! "You... blasphemer!" she snarled, regaining a semblance of control. "How dare you allow Txra'kon We'er to take them! Those Children of Eywa - both animal and Na'vi - who fought and died, did so with honor ; they deserve to be at peace with Eywa! What you speak of... What you allow Txra'kon We'er to do... This 'revival of the dead'... It is not natural!" Still struggling to return air to my lungs, as I laid there on the Great Fleece Pile I could do nothing to quell San'eya's rage or even defend myself, as she swiftly stalked towards me, intent on striking me again.

Fortunately, however, I did not need to do anything. As she saw Tsa'hik San'eya drawing close to me with fist raised to strike, Sìlpey - who had merely been observing everything up until this point - screamed out, "Do not hurt our Olo'eyktan!" and then barreled into the enraged Tsa'hik, knocking her to the Weyrheart's carpeted floor! As the Tsa'hik lay there, stunned by what had just occurred, Sìlpey stood before me in a protective stance and began to berate the incapacitated Elder! "You stupid, stupid skxawng!" she snapped. "What is 'not natural' is that the Warriors and animal friends of our Clan that died did so when they were not ready to die! Tell me, Tsa'hik" she continued, spitting the title as though it were a curse, "if they who fell should be with Eywa... then why did the Great Mother not immediately embrace them when they fell?"

Having regained my breath, as I gingerly sat up, I stared at Sìlpey in wonder. 'Holy shit,' I thought to myself, in private realization, 'she's right! During the entire course of that battle, not once did I see Eywa's vines embrace any of the Clan's warriors, at all! She sure did a good job at 'removing' the corpses of the enemy, though!' Banishing the thought, I returned my attention to Sìlpey as she continued to speak to San'eya. "Why - instead of claiming them - did she allow the Px'ro'pxs of Txra'kon We'er to take them?" When the Tsa'hik did not answer - because she couldn't answer - Sìlpey answered the question herself. "Because" she answered, "Eywa knew that they were not yet ready to join with her!

Eywa knew this - for the Great Mother knows all - and that is why she allowed Txra'kon We'er to take them! You are a stupid skxawng for hurting Olo'eyktan Txa'vit, and for not Seeing Sa'nok Eywa... or Sempul Txra'kon We'er! You are just like Ema'zu!"_As that final word left little Sìlpey's mouth, furious with rage, _Tsa'hik San'eya struggled to her feet - perhaps to berate the 'impudent' child for her brazen audacity - but as she stood, suddenly, she doubled over in pain, clutching at the center of her chest! That, dear readers, was when everything just stopped as the Dragon Weyr - upon detecting this symptom of impending heart attack - immediately shifted Tsa'hik San'eya to the Clinic.