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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 3

(Continued from Chapter 2...)

Miracle adored any song that he could 'sing' by humming, trilling, or crooning along with the chorus. He adored the sound of the human voice - such as the work of Ladysmith Black Mambazo - and adored songs such as Elton John's 'Rocket Man', 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and even, 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues' where he could 'sing' with the part featuring Stevie Wonder on Harmonica. He hated and despised Metal, but oddly, liked Trance, especially if said music featured vocalists. He was also mystified by the sound of my Singing Bowl and developed a taste for Chant, for whenever I would chant in Khalani during my morning meditation - sensing that what I was doing was serious and not a game - he would hum solemnly along with me.

And so... our lives continued. I grew older and more skilled in the arts of Psionics and Pandoran Veterinary Medicine, Txe'lan grew wiser as her bond to the Dragon Weyr deepened, and Sa'nok grew a little more affectionate even as her age began to catch up with her. We and the Menagerie aged gracefully as the years passed, and all was fine, until one day, when things took a turn for the worse. Sa'nok was not with me that day as I set out on yet another Veterinary mission - Txe'lan was treating her back at the Dragon Weyr, as her arthritis was acting up - but thankfully, Falkor and Miracle were at my side. As we trekked through the forests of Pandora, searching for animals to help, suddenly, both of my animal companions halted and let out warning snarls...

Just before I heard the unmistakable 'fft' of an arrow being fired! Swiftly I commanded Falkor and Miracle to drop to the ground and then I did the same, throwing myself to the forest floor. It was a good thing we did, too, because seconds later, a single arrow - followed shortly by a hail of them - flew over us and 'thunked' heavily into the surrounding trees! 'Shit!' I thought, shocked. 'What the fuck? Why am I being shot at?' I was soon to learn the answer to that question in a most unpleasant manner... Thankfully, after the initial hail of arrows, no more were fired at us, but as Miracle, Falkor, and I got to our feet, a figure lightly leaped down out of the trees and landed on the ground, crouched, a few feet away from me. As the figure rose to a standing position, Falkor slipped away into the trees, leaving Miracle and I alone!

'Where's he off to?' I wondered. My wondering at my Viperwolf's unusual behavior was cut short, however, when I got a look at the figure standing before me. It was another Na'vi, but unlike Txe'lan, this particular Na'vi was male, and he was also a giant, looming over me at a height of eight meters; taller than any Na'vi I had ever seen! He was clad in a taparrabo - to which a vine-cord 'belt' was attached that held a number of stone axes and knives - and upon his head he wore a colorful, iridescent blue Eyaye;a War Bonnet. His face was painted with crimson war paint, in a myriad of designs, but as I looked closer, I beheld something horrific... 'Wait a minute...' I realized, 'that's not paint on his face; it's blood! This Na'vi uses blood as war paint!'

He strode towards me, then, his posture displaying his arrogance, his eyes filled with deadly hostility. Nevertheless, when he stopped in front of me - as Miracle whimpered and tried to hide himself behind me - I chose to greet the warrior in peace. "Kaltxi ma tsmukan, oel ngati kameie," I intoned softly, with a gentle bow. Then, with a smile, I added, "Ngaru lu fpom srak?" The giant Na'vi warrior did not return my greeting. Instead, a sneer twisted his face before he spat at the ground near my feet! Then, he barked, "Fnu, vrrtep tawtute! You do not value our ways and our methods; do not sully our language with your filthy ketuwong tongue!" His anger and hostility, rolling off him in waves, shocked me and I took a step back, bumping into Miracle, who whined softly. "I... Ma tsmukan... what have I done to anger you so?" I asked, softly.

A soft hiss of anger escaped the Na'vi warrior's clenched lips, before he bit out, "You are no Brother of mine,tawtute vrrtep filth!We of the Clan Tawkami have seen how you sully the bodies of our animal brothers and sisters, and how you use your profane magic to make many of them vanish into air, never to be seen again!" Upon hearing that this Na'vi was from Clan Tawkami, I gasped softly in shock, my eyes widening. 'Hold on a moment...' I thought, 'clan Tawkami was Txe'lan's old Clan! I thought they were peaceful, but this guy sure isn't! What the hell is going on here?' I returned my attention to the Na'vi, then, and - wanting to quell his hostility towards me and make him see reason - I quietly replied, "Mawey, tsmukan, mawey; you do not understand what it is that I do. I do not sully the bodies of our animal friends; I heal them when they are sick, and repair their bodies when they are injured. If I cannot do this myself, then I send them away - make them vanish, as you say - to a sacred place for healing."

My words did not serve to dispel the rage and hostility emanating from the giant Na'vi, not at all. On the contrary, as I spoke, he grew angrier, and angrier, until finally - his eyes hardened chips of gold - he screamed,"Lies! Lies! Filthy tawtute lies! You care not for Eywa or her Children!" Then, tearing a massive axe from his belt he howled a fearsome war cry, and made to attack me! Due to the Oath I had sworn upon becoming a High Templar - an Oath that forbade me from engaging in combat by any mundane means, even from a distance - I could not raise a hand to defend myself, and I had no time to employ any of my psionic powers. 'I... he's going to kill me,' I thought, horrified. 'Shit... Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm going to die!' I needn't have worried, however...

As the deranged warrior raised his mighty weapon above his head to strike me down, with a frightening, hyena-like cackle, an obsidian-black shape dropped from the trees and landed atop him! "Falkor!" I cried for it was, indeed, my Viperwolf friend. Years of living within the serene influence, and psychically permeated atmosphere of the Dragon Weyr had shaped my friend into a truly nightmarish adversary, far larger and stronger than any other Viperwolf before him. With a deathly growl, he sunk his obsidian teeth into the deranged Na'vi warrior's weapon hand! The warrior, however, would not be dissuaded so easily. Snarling in anger, he wrenched his arm free of Falkor's deadly, wounding grip and then turned to embrace my Viperwolf in mortal combat.

What followed could only be described as the clash of the century; but soon only one of the duelists was left standing - with a choked gurgle, the Na'vi died as Falkor suffocated him, crushing the warrior's windpipe between his mighty jaws... before tearing out his throat! Horrified at the brutality of the scene I had just witnessed, I stumbled away from Miracle and then turned and vomited, spilling my recently eaten breakfast to the forest floor. Then, after rinsing my mouth out and washing my face with the aid of some water and a disposable cloth from my Field Medical Kit, I sat down against the roots of a large tree and leaned forward, groaning quietly as I allowed my head to fall into my hands.

Moments later I heard a series of soft canine-like whines and quizzical bird-like chirrups, and then felt the snouts of Miracle and Falkor press gently against my sides, as they both nuzzled me in concern. Raising my head from my hands, I wrapped my arms about them both and pulled them against me in an embrace, my body becoming wracked with choked sobs as I wept softly with relief. I was alive. They were alive. We were all alive. When at last I was able to regain control of myself and cease crying, after releasing my animal friends from my embrace, I wiped the tears from my face with a fresh scrap of gauze cut from the supply in my Field Medical Kit, and then turned my attention to Falkor and began to run my hands over his body, checking him for injuries.

Despite his battle with the hostile Na'vi, aside from a few minor lacerations and cuts - wounds that I could easily heal with the Deep Healing Beam - he hadn't been seriously injured, for which I was thankful. "You... you didn't have to do that, you know" I rasped out softly as I ran the medical instrument over his body. "We could have dealt with that Na'vi some other way; you didn't have to kill him." At this, Falkor shook his head and woofed softly, as if to say, "Yes, I did." At this I was hit with an epiphany, my eyes widening as I stared at him in wonder. "You... you knew, didn't you?" I murmured. "You knew that this would happen; that he would attack me. That's why you disappeared into the trees as he approached..." Another soft woof escaping him, my Viperwolf friend nodded; he had indeed known.

As I finished my examination of him - leaning closer to him, to carefully check his newly healed injuries - I realized something both profound and frightening. "Holy shit... you... you were messing with him, weren't you?" Again, Falkor nodded. With enhanced intelligence came enhanced cunning; Falkor could have killed that Na'vi at any time, but instead he had engaged the warrior in a game, a deadly one. My Viperwolf had -played- with him, sadistically, allowing the Na'vi man to get in a few relatively minor hits whilst taking full advantage of his blind anger to strike again, and again, and again... until there could be only one winner. Although tamed and loyal to me, my Viperwolf friend was - and would always be - a deadly Predator.

With my examination and treatment of Falkor complete, I turned to check on Miracle. Thankfully he was uninjured, but upon seeing him, sadness welled up within me, for he was gently pawing at the body of the dead Na'vi, and occasionally prodding it with his snout, as if unable to comprehend what had happened. "Miracle, come over here to Daddy, alright? Come away from there, come on!" I called softly. At first, Miracle didn't respond to my call, but then - giving me a look that was utterly stricken - he slowly ambled over to me, and then sat down on his haunches in front of me, next to Falkor. Cocking his head, the young Ikran whined softly and then unsheathing one of the claws at the end of his left forepaw, he used the deadly implement to write in the dirt, using the simple English that I and Txe'lan had taught him.

Slowly, laboriously, in a childlike script, he wrote, "Blu man bad?" Saltwater welling within my eyes once more, I swallowed thickly, before answering, "Yes, Miracle, he was a very bad man." At my reply, the childlike Ikran blinked, and then nodded slowly. Then, after using his paw to 'clear the board' so to speak, he wrote "Woolf kil bad man?" Blinking to try to hold back the tears threatening to fall, I rasped, "Yes... Falkor killed the bad man..." At this, Miracle lowered his head, letting out a quiet keening cry of mourning. It was the sound that did it; I cried again, and as my tears ran down my cheeks to fall to the ground, I raged at myself internally. 'God damn it; Txe'lan warned me that we wouldn't be able to keep Miracle sheltered forever... she fucking warned me that one day he was going to see something like this. I... I just wish it hadn't been today or... this!' I thought, closing my eyes.

A nuzzle from Falkor, followed by the gentle trilling of Miracle, made me reopen my eyes. I looked at him, and he gestured to the ground; there, I once again saw his simple, childlike script, written in the dirt. " New this was a wun way tiket, but yew new i had to come..." The line - once typed on a small computer keyboard, attached to the Fluid Breathing Suit worn by a fictional man named Virgil Brigman, in the Film, 'The Abyss' - made me let out a watery chuckle. "Oh, you... I knew I shouldn't have let you and Txe'lan watch all those old movies..." With those words, I embraced Miracle again, but this time he allowed it only briefly, before he pulled away to write "Home?" With a smile, I rose to my feet and then whistled to Falkor. "Yes" I replied, "come on guys; no more work for today. Let's go home..."