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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 5

(Continued from Chapter 4...)

At this, the Tsa'hik let out a rather undignified snort. "There are no words in any of our Songs that state that an Olo'eyktan must be a member of the Clan, or even one of the People, Txa'vit!" she replied. "And as for not believing in Eywa... you could learn to do so; I will teach you of Her and how you might show your respect to Her. You already do so greatly by caring for her animal children!" Stressed and somewhat frustrated, I rested my head in my hands for a moment, a soft groan escaping me. 'God damn it... I just can't win, can I?' I thought. Amusement from both the Dragon Weyr and Txe'lan filled my thoughts, then, as Txe'lan answered, ' No, Txa'vit, in this, you cannot. You should never argue with a Clan's Tsa'hik because no matter what you say, she will, in the end, always get what she wants!'

'Yeah, I get that...' I replied. At my reply, Txe'lan and the great Nexus burst into laughter. With that laughter and amusement filling my thoughts, I returned my attention to San'eya and finally asked, "Why me?" When next San'eya answered, I could plainly hear the desperation filling her voice. "Because we have Seen you, Txa'vit, and we know that you will make a great Olo'eyktan. Please, Txa'vit, please help us. Please lead us. Please, be our Olo'eyktan..." Her eyes met mine then, her own pleading, and the very wind without seemed to pause for my answer. Throwing up my hands with a frustrated sigh, I gave it. "All right, all right! I... I will become your Olo'eyktan..." When they heard my answer, the entire Clan of assembled Na'vi began whooping, hollering, and cheering!

'God damn it' I thought, as I listened to them celebrate, 'I may not want the job... but I'm going to do this right! I'm going to be the best Olo'eyktan that I can be.' When the cheering of the Clan at last faded into silence, I carefully lifted the War Bonnet from my head and handed it to San'eya. "Now is not a time of war, ma tsmuken, and so I do not need to wear this," I intoned softly. "Therefore, I will pass it to you; that you may care for it and keep it safe until there is ceremony that requires me to wear it... or until there comes a Time of Great Sorrow." San'eya nodded solemnly. "I shall do as you say, Olo'eyktan," she said quietly. "Irayo, ma tsmuken," I replied, heaving a sigh of relief. 'Whew! That thing was bloody heavy,' I thought to myself. 'Hopefully, I won't ever need to wear it again.'

With that small matter taken care of, I turned to the assembled Na'vi of Clan Tawkami and began to speak, employing a touch of psychic power to project my voice in order to be heard by everyone. "Alright, ma olo'" I began, "as you probably already know, my name is David, but if you have trouble pronouncing that you may call me Txa'vit. I am not one of the People - I am of the Tawtute - and I came to Pandora after... after I was betrayed by people I once called family." As the assembled Na'vi heard my words they started to look at each other, and I could hear words of disbelief and shock throughout the crowd. The new Olo'eyktan had been betrayed by those whom he once called brother and sister?

Such a thing was so rare among the Na'vi, that it was almost unheard of! When the murmuring of the crowd quietened, I continued, "Here on Pandora, as you know, I live in a great fngap kelku that is called Dragon Weyr, or Txra'kon We'er, and it is a huge place - large enough to house the entire Clan - but I do not expect all of you to live there with me; you may live anywhere you wish within the lands that surround it if you prefer. If you need them I can provide you with wood and other materials to build homes for yourselves wherever you chose to make them." At this, several of the Clan Elders began to grumble, and one rudely yelled out, "You will not harm the trees or the land to provide these things!"

At his shout, several other clan members, too, began to make noises of discontent, and upon seeing this I rested my head in my hands with yet another sigh of frustration. 'And this is exactly why I didn't want this damn job!' I thought. 'It looks like my reign as Olo'eyktan of Clan Tawkami is going to be very, very short!' I needn't have worried, however... Upon seeing my state of frustration - after carefully passing the War Bonnet to another clan member - San'eya swiftly walked up to the Elder whom had shouted so rudely. "Fnu," she said, rapping him on the head, as if scolding a disobedient child. " Listen to our new Olo'eyktan before you speak skxawng! We all have seen him craft great works without ever harming the land, so if he says he can do this thing for us, then he will, and he will not bring harm upon Eywaby doing so!"

Suitably chastised, the Elder nodded to the Tsa'hik with a softly muttered, "Ngaytxoa..." and then began to work to quiet the crowd. With that done, San'eya retrieved the War Bonnet and then returned to my side. "Ignore the words of that Elder - he is an old councilman, set in his ways..." Her words caused a chill to run down my spine. 'Yes, and so was Andorhal Vi'thos...' I thought. With that, I fixed the face of the Elder whom had protested in my mind, and sent the mental image back to the Dragon Weyr. Its suspicion and then acknowledgement filled my thoughts; the great Nexus would keep an eye on the old Na'vi via a Nanocyte manufactured Observer at the very first opportunity to do so. 'Thank you, my friend' I thought, and then returned my attention to San'eya as she continued to speak.

"... We know that you have never - and would never - harm Eywa, no matter what you choose to do. Speak, Txa'vit, please" she encouraged me, gently. "We are your Clan, now, and we will listen." Raising my head from my hands, I nodded to her in acknowledgement, and then - with a weary sigh - I continued. "Txra'kon We'er is a place of healing and sanctuary for Eywa's animal children, and when we go there, you will see animals that would normally hunt each other - such as Nantang, Palulukan, and Ikran - living together in peace and friendship; like Falkor and Miracle here" I said, softly caressing their heads as they sat patiently at my sides. Murring and chirruping softly, my two animal friends bumped against me as they leaned into my touch, causing me to stumble a little; this in turn caused gentle, amused laughter to break out among the assembled Clan.

"You may carry tsko swizaw, tukru, tstal, or any other weapon inside Txra'kon We'er, and in the clearing that surrounds it," I continued, "but you must never use them there unless there comes a Time of Great Sorrow, when Txra'kon We'er and the animals there must be defended. If any of you fail to follow this law you will be exiled immediately from the Clan; I will not have violence in my - our - kelku!" I lapsed into silence, then, sensing that the moment following such a statement as this would be critical. 'Will they acknowledge it?' I wondered. With bated breath, I waited to see what they would do. Soon, there was a murmur of, "Srane, Olo'eyktan," followed by unanimous nodding.

At this, I heaved a sigh of relief, and then continued, "So long as you follow this simple law, you will live as you always have; I will not force you to immerse yourself in my ways and live as I do. If, however, you would like to learn of Txra'kon We'er and its workings - as well as the ways in which I care for our animal brothers and sisters, I will be happy to teach you. Should any of you choose to live with me at Txra'kon We'er, you will see wondrous things that you might think are hiyìk or even kawng; what I will tell you for now is that this is not so. You will need to learn what I can teach you, then. Together, we will teach each other. I... I hope that I will serve you well as your Olo'eyktan. Irayo..."

As I finished the speech to Clan Tawkami - my Clan - they began to cheer again and as they did so, once again, I sighed wearily. 'I... damn it, I felt I had to say something to them,' I thought to myself 'but by Adun that was pathetic! I just hope what I said wasn't at all patronizing to them; I felt like the "big heap White Man" trying to "lay down the Law to the primitive Injuns" for a moment, there... but that's NOT how it's going to be at all! I'm going to be a fair and just leader for these people and I'll follow my Oaths and bloody-well do exactly as I stated!' When the cheering of my new Clan once more faded into silence, I asked those Na'vi whom were able to do so, to catch and make Tsaheylu with wild Pa'li horses; those Na'vi whom were too ill to ride I bade ride tandem with those who could.

I personally had no idea how to catch said Pa'li. Oh, I had treated the great Direhorses before - after using my Psionic Ability 'Charm' to calm them so they wouldn't fear me - but I had never actually had to catch or ride them. Fortunately, the warriors and hunters of my Clan had done so many times, and between them they were able to round up an entire herd for our transport back to the Dragon Weyr. I was the last to be seated upon the back of one of the mighty animals; once San'eya was seated - after setting the War Bonnet that I had entrusted to her atop her head - she reached down and hauled me up to sit in front of her and then wrapped an arm about my body, but my being 'in the front seat' was merely a courtesy, as she would be doing the 'driving' so to speak.

Once everyone was seated and as comfortable as was possible, I called out "Home, to Txra'kon We'er!" then whistled to Falkor, and we were off! As always, my faithful Viperwolf companion was able to guide us home - he could do so from nearly anywhere on Pandora - but the journey home was fairly slow going as we had to be careful not to jostle the wounded and ill. By the time we returned to the Dragon Weyr it was late in the day - the sun was setting, the shadows growing long - but the passage of time did nothing to dispel the reaction of the Clan to their first sighting of the Dragon Weyr! When the Pa'li herd drew to a halt - and the Na'vi of Clan Tawkami saw the colossal, glyph-inscribed pyramidal structure and its surrounding buildings, glowing softly in the light of Pandora's gradually setting sun - their reaction was... mixed, to say the least!

Those among the Clan whom before had seen only glimpses of the great structure, gazed upon it with reverence for a moment, before bowing their heads in prayer to Eywa, thanking her for allowing them to behold such a place. The Weavers and Craftsmen of the Clan wept openly, tears streaming from their eyes and running down their cheeks, as they beheld and were enthralled by its sheer beauty. The Clan Elders were reacting as Txe'lan had upon seeing the Weyr for the first time; some were gawping - their golden eyes almost popping out of their heads - as they tried to take in everything at once, whilst others were clutching their chests, half in fear, and half in awe that such a place even existed at all!