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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 24

(Continued from Chapter 23...)

My words to Lompor turned out to be true; in less than a day the great Tunnel Boring Machine reached the surface and - upon doing so - it slowed right down before gently easing through the very entrance it had created in order to reach the dwellings of 'They Who Could Not See.' As the TBM made its way out of the tunnel it had created, outside the great machine, the Na'vi of the United Clans whom I had assigned to guard said tunnel thought - at first - that a second attack was coming from 'They Who Could Not See!' However, the great ìley they sounded soon turned into a jubilant cheer when, instead of seeing the pale white of vrrtep flesh, they beheld the glint of golden ketuwong steel.

When the great machine had slithered completely from the tunnel - as its enormous cutting head slowed to a stop - whooping, hollering and crying tears of joy the Na'vi of the United Clans surrounded the nawm fngap ioang with outstretched hands to touch, stroke, and caress the strange ketuwong beast. Although merely a Drone into which the Dragon Weyr had moved part of its consciousness the machine was still a construct of the Great Nexus and possessed everything all of its other manufactured machines did, including a network of Cybernetic Perceptors: tiny devices that functioned much like the somatosensory system of a living being. Said Perceptors enabled the machine to feel its environment - including the touch of living beings - and at the attention the Na'vi lavished upon it, the TBM thrummed softly with pleasure!

A moment later, the great machine opened its bays and lowered its docking ramps, allowing myself, Lompor, San'eya and the entire Tsampongu to exit, along with the mighty Protoss Reavers. Mere seconds later, the cry went up - "Olo'eyktan Txa'vit and our Olo' 'Itan have returned to us!" - and it was with happiness filling my heart that I watched the great Gate of Dawn open to allow the unhurt females of Tawkami to exit and reunite with their battle-weary mates. 'This' I thought, as I stood upon the main docking ramp of the TBM, 'is why I chose to become Pandora's Templar.' That night, I, Lompor, San'eya, and a now reunited Clan Tawkami celebrated heartily with our kin of the Ikran, Pa'li, and Kilvan Clans.

The food and drink just kept coming as stories of our battle against 'They Who Could Not See' were told, news and gossip of what had been happening on the surface whilst we'd been away was shared, and songs were sung and dances performed of our heroic deeds! But alas... I could not celebrate; not yet, for there was still the aftermath to come. Thus as the night wore on, eventually, I quietly slipped away and swiftly made my way into the Dragon Weyr's Clinic, where my Clan's healers were assisting the Dragon Weyr's Autodoc as it tended to our rescued females. Unfortunately, in my haste to enter the place, I wasn't looking where I was going, and bumped into one of the Senior Healers as he was carrying a jar of vital herbs.

When we collided - and said jar fell from his hands - the Na'vi man I'd bumped into was utterly incensed! "Skxawng!" he cried angrily. "Why don't you look where you're...?" And then, at that point, we actually saw each other, and realized whom we were both talking to. The man I'd accidentally collided with was Yayo, and when he saw me he looked stricken! "Ma... ma Olo'eyktan!" he said softly as the Dragon Weyr cleaned up the mess of the destroyed herb jar and then swiftly replaced it, "I... Ngaytxoa! If I'd known it was you, I..." Suddenly feeling bone-weary, I gently waved him off as I softly intoned, "Lu mawey, ma tsmukan, it was my fault; I wasn't looking where I was going."

For a moment, I rested my head in my hands - a weary sigh escaping me - and then, raising my head to gaze at him steadily, I inquired, "How are they?" For a moment, we paused to gaze at the seven rescued females as they lay within their beds inside the Autodoc. Then, in a hushed tone, Yayo answered, "They are... not good, ma Olo'eyktan, not at all. Lompor's Lifemate... she was... she was... they put their foul seed inside her and it burned her, ma Olo'eyktan!" At this, I frowned; Yayo couldn't exactly say what had been done to Maena because he didn't have a name for the act... but I did. 'She was raped...' I thought, horrified. 'Oh, Adun and Eywa, she was raped!' I was pulled from my thoughts then as Yayo continued to speak.

"She... If Txra'kon We'er cannot heal her, she will no longer be able to have children!" Lompor, as far as I knew, had no heirs to carry on in his name, and this news would be utterly devastating to him! Gently, I shook my head in sorrow, before I softly responded, "... And what of the others, ma tsmukan? How do they fare?" Their conditions, as Yayo told me, were critical. Two of our rescued kin had been beaten and brutalized so badly that they might never walk again; two more had chunks missing from their bodies where 'They Who Could Not See' had started to devour them, and lastly, two more were stricken with an infection in their blood; the result of filth entering open wounds. "And what of the seventh?" I asked. "What of my friend, Txe'lan?"

Poor Yayo didn't answer my question, at first; instead, he rested his head in his hands for a moment, and then finally - lifting his head and shaking it - he replied, "We... we do not know, ma Olo'eyktan. Txra'kon We'er has isolated her - placed her away from the others - and will not let us touch her. Any healer who tries is painfully repelled by a powerful atan hawnu!" 'A force field? That's strange...' I thought, frowning in concern. 'Why won't you let the Healers help her, my friend?' I asked. A moment later, terror gripped my guts as I realized that I should not have asked that question of the Weyr--at all! The Dragon Weyr 'answered' said question by blasting my mind with raw, white-hot fury; a feeling so intense that it psychically burned me!

Desperate, repeated queries to the Weyr did not cause the great Nexus to calm, nor did they yield a reason for the terrible rage it was blasting me with; instead, all they did was intensify the emotion! It was as if... the Weyr was so utterly pissed that it wasn't even aware of what it was doing, or of the harm it was causing! A terrible scream was torn from my throat as - in agony - all I could do was stagger from the Clinic, clutching my head, as Yayo looked on in horror. The fury of the Weyr lasted but a moment... but it was a moment too late, for the damage was done. Something inside me finally just... snapped. That night, dear readers, the nightmares I'd suffered with before arrival upon Pandora returned with a vengeance but these were not of the death of my beloved Lifemate.

No these were far worse things: horrific scenarios and 'what-ifs' of all of the brutal, bloody battles I'd been involved in during my early days as a Protoss Zealot. This time, however, the Dragon Weyr did not soothe them away and, as a result, I began to be affected physically due to sheer exhaustion from lack of sleep. During the months following our successful rescue mission, as our rescued females recovered, an illness afflicted me with horrible consequences. I could no longer perform my duties as the Clan's Olo'eyktan, I could no longer work as Pandora's Veterinarian, I could no longer eat without expelling whatever I tried to keep down, and worse, I could no longer sleep. Unable to work and eat by day, and unable to sleep by night...

It was a vicious, perpetuating cycle that could lead only to one outcome. Yes, dear readers, I was dying... Outside the Weyr - at a place far, far away - the presence watched its other with alarm. Unable to die so long as its other lived, it had followed its other to this world, Pandora, in the hope that it might reunite with its other when the other was ready. It had attempted to do so once already - it had chosen a vessel called a 'Palulukan', had made contact with its other, and had spent many wonderful years with said other but the other had not truly been ready for reunification; the other had seen the presence only as a Mother, had not seen it for what it was, and had even referred to it by a completely different name!

Even worse, the vessel the presence had chosen was elderly, and said vessel had passed on before reunification could be attempted, forcing the presence to leave and recuperate. The presence had then made the briefest of visits to its other - before its other went to battle against 'They Who Could Not See' - but, to its dismay, its other had believed the presence to be a figment of imagination! In despair, the presence had left and had drifted aimlessly, lost, alone, and so lonely... until, it had decided, that one more attempt at reunification should be made. Ever-so-carefully, the presence had moved among the creatures of Pandora looking for a new, permanent vessel... and at last it had acquired one; a truly impressive and powerful creature!

Grown to the correct size, young and strong, and possessing the correct gender, the creature was perfect, but its hide and eye colors were wrong. However, it was effortless to alter them with an application of will to be close to those of what its original form had once possessed. The presence could have gone to its other right away, but something had held it back: fear. Would its other accept and reunite with it again? Would its other even recognize it? It had not known, and thus, it had waited, entering its new physical form only briefly to maintain it. Now, however, the time for waiting and questioning was over - its other was dying - the psychic tethers that tied the presence to said other were fraying and the presence, along with its other, would be lost if it didn't act now!

Swiftly, the presence entered its new vessel and established itself there with temporary psychic linkages... And then, within its lair on Pandora, a truly enormous golden-bronze Ikran opened her midnight-blue eyes. Mere seconds later, a newly reborn Ieesha leaped to her feet, then raced from her temporary lair-cavern and leaped into the sky. ~Oh, sweet David,~ she said to herself, her new eyes misting over with unshed tears, a soft whimper escaping her as she rapidly beat her wings, pushing her new body to its limits as she headed towards her and her beloved's home, ~by the Great Dragon, I hope I am not too late...~

Outside the Weyr, when the People of Clan Tawkami saw the titanic Ikran approach the Weyr and then simply drop from the sky to land with a great thump upon the ground, their reactions were... mixed... to say the least! Elders gasped and bowed deeply with reverence; some believed that Eywa had sent this mighty Ikran - whom was even larger than the revered Toruk - as a sign that their ailing Olo'eyktan might be healed from the tìkawng tirea that had cursed him with vawm ayäie, leaving him ill and unable to eat or sleep. Others, however, had heard many tales of their Olo'eyktan's yawne, the Nawm Kxayl Txra'kon of Txra'kon We'er, Iee'zha. Could this be her, returned to life?

The Warriors and Hunters of Tawkami stared at the giant Ikran in awe, and more than a little fear. How could one of Eywa's animal Children - and an Ikran , no less - grow so big as to be a match for the revered Last Shadow? When the nawm ioang cast toward them an icy gaze however, they kept their distance, fingering their weapons nervously. There was something very hyik about that animal; its unnaturally coloured eyes - as vawm as the taw of kifkey Eywa'evenga at kxamtxon - shone with an unnatural cunning and deadly intelligence. Most of the Clan's children - especially the young ones - hid with their Mothers in fear. Why was this enormous Ikran here, so far away from its rookery and kin?

Some of the Clan's adolescents and young adults - in spite of vehement protests from their older peers - foolishly moved to surround the mighty animal; some produced weapons to drive the beast away, whilst others withdrew Mersh'ti cau'pla, in hope of subduing and then bonding with the Ikran in order to become Ikran Makto. As Ieesha saw these young whelps from her beloved Lifemate's new Clan surround her, she barred her teeth in a terrible snarl! 'Trag'Oul damn them,' she thought, 'I don't have time for this! I've got to get into our Weyr and help David...' With those words, Ieesha gathered a portion of her latent, negative power... and then - with a terrible roar - unleashed a powerful maelstrom of manifested psychic force to stun her foes!

As the People of Tawkami saw the group surrounding the nawm ioang fall to the ground, paralyzed, many screamed in fear and fled for they knew not what had happened - for all they knew the Ikran had killed their kin with a terrible magic - but the Warriors and Elders who knew merely shook their heads; this was, indeed, Olo'eyktan Txa'vit's yawne, Iee'zha, for only she could wield the nawm tìvawm or "Great Darkness", the opposite of Txra'kon We'er's atan! As the mighty Ikran leaped over her fallen foes with a single bound and then practically smashed down the great Gate of Dawn on her way into the Weyr, several healers of a much stunned Clan Tawkami swiftly moved to tend to their fallen brethren, the Elders assuring them that they were only stunned, and would eventually be fine.

Once through the Gate of Dawn - as it closed behind her - Ieesha galloped through the Curia de Reliquiae, and then made her way into the lower Transport Alcove whereupon she activated it. Immediately her body was transformed into energy, shifted to the upper Transport Alcove and then reconfigured into matter. Upon exiting the Transport Alcove and making her way into the Weyrheart, Ieesha paused for the briefest moment, her mind caught up in many, many happy memories. ~So little has changed...~ she said to herself, as she gazed around the room. The Great Fleece Pile at its center remained, as did the dresser and mannequin where she and David's possessions were stored.

The sofa and Holoscreen remained as they were, along with her reading machine and all of the books on her bookshelf. The large Palulukan saddle, however; that was new. She recognized it - she'd worn it before when she'd temporarily been the Palulukan, Sa'nok - and also acknowledged the many Na'vi sleeping hammocks - the Eywa k'sey nivi bri'sta - stretched across the ceiling of the large room. ~Some of David's new Clan - our new Clan - rest here? It is good that he was able to move through my two previous deaths and find purpose again...~ she said to herself, thoughtfully. Vehemence fuelled tone, when she continued, ~ But no more deaths this time! No more betrayals! I live again, and I will find and reunite with him!~

Soon, however, Ieesha was pulled from her thoughts when she was bombarded first with the shock - and then the awe, happiness and sheer joy of the Dragon Weyr all overshadowed by its curiosity - the great Nexus was awed that she was still alive, was immensely glad that she was again within its walls, and was curious. How had she come to live again? The newly reborn Ikran Ieesha, however, possessed very little patience for pleasantries or questions. ~Cease full-power emanation from Sustainable Consciousness Apparatus!~ she barked, harshly. When the Dragon Weyr sadly complied - and its emotions dimmed within her thoughts - she barked, ~Replay temporal and psychical events from...~ and then trilled the Temporal/Psionic Event Code for the time of the most recent events in her native tongue, Hi'i Kirr'ta.

Withering in fear, the great Nexus complied... -David swiftly enters the Clinic whereupon he accidentally bumps into Senior Healer Yayo, knocking an herb-filled jar from the Na'vi's hands. The Na'vi is incensed, but soon realizes that it is the Olo'eyktan whom has accidentally collided with him. The herb-jar is replaced; David and Yayo discuss the females; David queries regarding Txe'lan. The Weyr - furious at its Tsa'hik's mistreatment - searches for someone upon which to lay blame; cannot find the minds of 'They Who Cannot See' so it lashes out with a blast of uncontrolled FURY at the next best thing, David, though he is blameless for unfolding events. The Weyr, with savage, unthinking rage, assaults an already stressed and damaged mind.

David succumbs to horrific nightmares, leading to crippling illness. Weyr shifts him to Autodoc for treatment; so far, medical treatment ineffective...- By the time the final memories faded - by the time Ieesha finished living them - the expression upon her face was one of thunderous rage! ~You kv'ees'ta a'noll vi'shaan kastha!~ she bit out vehemently in her native tongue, furiously mantling her wings in her anger. ~You knew his mind was fragile from the severance of our bond. You knew he was stressed from the battle against 'They Who Could Not See! You knew what would happen, and yet you did it anyway! Andof course treatment of the physical body will not work if the mind is unfit to accept it! You nor'cala! Have the Protoss, have I, taught you nothing?~

As she felt the Weyr cringe within her thoughts, Ieesha snorted softly and shook her head. Then - before she pushed the weakened consciousness of the Nexus from her thoughts - she growled low in her throat as she said menacingly, ~I am very disappointed in you!~ Then, in an instant - before the great Nexus could reply - Ieesha utterly blocked from her thoughts the psionic frequencies with which the Weyr broadcast - choosing instead to focus upon the scent and the knowledge: her beloved Lifemate, David, was here! He was here ... and thankfully - even without their special bond - she knew where he was; the Dragon Weyr had assisted her in this, at least. A soft whimper escaped her as, without any hesitation whatsoever, she tore into the Clinic.