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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 43

(Continued from Chapter 42...)

Then, with my possessions in hand, she looked upon me - at the Encounter Suit I wore - a frown creasing her features as she said, "This... fngapä ta'leng you wear... it is not who you are, Txa'vit; with it I cannot see you. Remove it and put these on; become the Templar we know you are, that we may all See you once more!" Gently, Mo'at set my possessions at my feet and as I looked upon them I found that - instead of the usual mix of human and Protoss clothing I normally wore - the Dragon Weyr had forged for me a set of true High Templar clothing and equipment: a proper Khaydarin Amulet inset into a psi-steel circlet worn on my head, along with a set of armor beneath which was worn a long flowing robe, cloak and a loincloth like garment called a shendyt.

Upon examining it further, however, to my delight I discovered that not all of what was had been lost; my usual tools and equipment were now stored in various compartments situated throughout my new attire and even my Forearm Computer - now wholly upgraded with the latest technology the Weyr possessed - was built into a new forearm bracer. Wordlessly, I doffed my encounter suit and, as the Dragon Weyr warped it away for the final time - its disappearance drawing gasps of awe from the Na'vi assembled before us - I stripped naked before the Clan. In that moment all saw truly who I was - small and humble before them, Adun, and Eywa was I - but then I began the process of dressing myself within my new attire.

On went shendyt over which was a decorative crotch piece; on went the most comfortable midnight-blue, glyph-inscribed under robe and cloak I had ever worn; on went torso armor housing an induced psi-field generator; on went knee armor, shin armor and footwear; and finally, on went new Khaydarin Amulet, a set of triangular earrings and even a 'false beard' - much like that which an Egyptian pharaoh would wear - properly crafted and sized for my human body. Always during my life on Aiur I had often felt a sense of displacement - as if I hadn't quite belonged - but now, as I stood there dressed for the first time in proper High Templar regalia, staring at all of the assembled Na'vi before me, I felt so very Protoss!

Calmly, as if greeting a long lost friend, I allowed my latent psionic power to fill my body and buoy my spirit. Thereafter, as I stood before them all, my eyes aglow with power, I performed a kneeling bow so deep that my forehead touched the ground. Then, a moment later - as I rose smoothly to my feet and then a little higher such that I hovered a few inches off the ground - my voice laced with psionic power, I spoke to all assembled the Khalani phrase of acknowledgement that all High Templar intoned upon arriving through a Gateway to announce their presence to the Judicators: "Khassar de Templari..." Shortly thereafter, Ieesha and I stopped in at our Field Tent where - after carefully doffing all my regalia - I made arrangements with the Dragon Weyr to transport back the archaeology supplies we'd used to unearth Eytukan.

Then, with that done - after dressing myself in my usual sleepwear - I moved to where Ieesha lay at the center of the tent, and settled down with her; once I was settled than Falkor and Miracle, too cuddled close at my sides. Once we were all comfortable, Ieesha curled herself around me, folding her wings over my body, pulling me close to her in a full-body embrace. As she tightened her embrace - pushing me down oh-so-gently with her muzzle to tuck me into her body and underneath her wings - I gently guided her head close to me, holding her to me as best I could, despite our vast differences in size. Looking into my eyes, my beloved stated, ~So... you are a High Templar again.~

Nestling further beneath her wings to get comfortable and warm, I nodded before replying, "I am; a little older and a little wiser. I've learned my lesson from all this, and I intend to stay one of the High Templar for the rest of my life!" At my words, Ieesha nodded, before she softly asked, ~And what lesson did you learn from all this?~ Grinning up at her with a gleam of mischief in my eye, I answered, "Never hold your nose and sneeze with your mouth closed!" Once Ieesha was able to stop laughing - as I nestled further beneath her wing - she bid me goodnight. ~Goodnight, sweet David. Sleep well~ she said, quietly. "Goodnight, Ieesha... may you have pleasant dreams" I replied... and then together, we fell asleep, Ieesha holding me safely within the curl of her body.

The next day - as I stood near the Gateway, staring off into the distance with Ieesha, Falkor and Miracle by my side - Jake quietly stepped up and placed a gentle hand upon my shoulder. "So..." he said, "not long now, eh? Just need to get us all fixed up and then get Txe'lan to Vitrautral, and then you'll be able to go home!" Silently I turned slowly to face him and then - as I stood there before him, hovering a few inches off the ground - I gazed serenely at him for a moment, my eyes glowing softly with barely suppressed power, before I telepathically said, ~YES...~ Upon seeing me in my Templar regalia and hearing my voice rumbling through his mind like a muted thunderclap, Jake swallowed nervously and took a step back.

A moment later, however, the entire act was ruined as Ieesha said exasperatedly, ~Oh, will you stop that?!~ Lowering myself to the ground such that I physically stood upon the Earth again, I turned to look at my beloved and grumbled, "What?!" Amusement filled my thoughts, then as Ieesha huffed through her nose before she responded ~The whole 'Wise Templar' act. Stop it; that's not you!~ Grinning, I moved to her and ran a hand along her body as I immediately said "Hey, I'm a High Templar again; I'm allowed to ham it up, aren't I?" Groaning softly, my beloved shook her head as she replied, ~No. You're not old enough, yet!~ Grumbling to myself I snarked, "Yes Mother!" only to receive a swat on the backside from the flat side of her tail spade.

At that, I pretended to storm off in a huff. "Stupid Dragon... I'm a High Templar... I don't need to put up with this crap..." I grumbled angrily. Of course, dear readers, it was all an act we were putting on for Jake to make him laugh, and laugh he did! As he leaned heavily against a tree, struggling to control and contain his laughter, we turned to look at each other and grinned. Once Jake was able to get himself under control, as he walked back over to us, he chuckled and said to me, "Whew! You had me going there for a minute, man; I thought you'd gone all Gandalf the Grey on me or something!" Then, he became serious as he continued, "So, when are you going to treat the Clan at Txra'kon We'er?"

Giving him a smile, I immediately answered, "Today, if it pleases you." As it turned out, getting the Omatikaya through the Gateway wasn't a simple affair; whilst the children seemed eager to see what was on the other side, many of the adult and senior Na'vi were terrified of the great warp rift that swirled at the structure's heart as they thought it might lead to oblivion! Jake Sully, however, proved to be of tremendous help in not only coaxing those reluctant through the warp rift, but also in 'leading the charge' as it were; he was the first to enter the warp rift and the first to return through it, in awe of the wondrous things he had seen on the other side. Of course, the fact that my own Clan, Tawkami, waited within the Gateway at the Homestead to greet the Omatikaya as they came through also helped a great deal.

We all - myself, Ieesha, my Tawkami brethren who'd accompanied us, Falkor, Miracle, the Dragon Weyr's Probes, and Txe'lan still prone in her Life Support Capsule - were the last to return, and as we emerged from the Gateway we were recieved with a rousing cheer as my beloved Clan and animal friends gathered around us, wanting for news of our Clan Sister. That would come later, however; the first thing my beloved and I did after greeting our Clan was to return to the Dragon Weyr, wherein we put our camping supplies into storage, as we no longer needed them, since - via the Gateways we could move back and forth between the Homestead and the Omatikayan Hometree with relative ease.

With our supplies safely stored away, Ieesha and I - accompanied by Oo'ano, Lompor, and Tsa'hik San'eya - set about giving the Clan of the Blue Flute a brief tour of the Homestead. Needless to say, as with all Na'vi whom had visited the Weyr before them, Jake and his Clan were impressed by what they saw. The Omatikayans were amazed with all I had accomplished here and particularly pleased that I hadn't needed to damage the land to do so. The sight of creatures normally hostile to each other living together was hard to stomach at first; many Omatikayans were fearful that a Titanothere, Palulukan, Nantang or other animal might hurt their children but soon the fear they held was dispelled when one bold rambunctious child who managed to get lost was brought back to his parents borne upon the back of a female Palulukan with her two curious cubs following behind her!

It wasn't all sweetness and light, however; some of the Omatikayan Elders were intimidated by the sight of the Nexus looming over all it surveyed, whilst others looked upon the various shelters and homes for the animals with scorn and disdain, misunderstanding their purpose. Yet more were irked by the Tawkami Guards who - apart from offering the Clan the traditional Na'vi greeting - observed their kin with unnatural calm and never spoke whilst they were on duty. With Jake Sully there to soothe ruffled feathers however, any incidents between my Clan and the traditionalist Omatikaya were dealt with peacefully. Eventually the Homestead Tour ended when we led the Omatikayans into the Clinic, wherein they would be treated for damage caused by radiation poisoning.