Avatar: The Guardian

Chapter 8: The Assault

Author note: I use { } to separate Na'vi and English when it's appropriate for the scene.

Kiri and Spider had managed to press their way to the front of the throng just prior to Jake's speech. A dozen of Jake's most trusted warriors stood with him, including Kiri's siblings, Mo'at and Neytiri, who had just returned. The tension was so high that a dropped pin could cut through the still air.

"{My fellow Omaticaya. Brothers and sisters,}" Jake said, clearing his throat as he looked at each of them in the face. "{I address you with a dire message. Our home is once again under threat from the invaders.}"

There were loud gasps from the crowd, and Spider and Kiri exchanged a glance.

"I warned you we couldn't trust that thing," Spider whispered to Kiri.

Kiri shivered as she looked toward her tent, where she had stashed her radio. Betrayal was something she had never experienced before, and it made her uneasy.

Jake's words jolted Kiri out of her daze. "{Our enemy has been spotted approaching our camp from the north, and they will soon arrive,}" he said with a somber expression on his face. "{They'll be here in less than thirty minutes.}"

"{Then let us strike before they arrive!}" One of the warriors screamed from the crowd, and there were loud shouts and hoots from everyone else. Lo'ak and Neteyam cheered that sentiment.

As Kiri glanced at Spider and saw him applauding along, she felt like she was the only person who did not share that sentiment. Behind the cheers, she was aware that battle meant more death and destruction.

Jake stepped forward and extended his hands, thereby silencing the assemblage. "{We will strike them with everything we have before they arrive,}" he said, nodding firmly. "{However, as a precautionary measure, I am ordering the immediate evacuation of the camp.}"

The audience once again reacted with audible murmurs and disapproval cries. Kiri and Spider did not speak but were disappointed with the news as well.

"{We can't just run again like before,}" an elder cried out. "{We have already lost our home!}"

Kiri inhaled deeply upon hearing this because she remembered the day of the sundered flames all too well, and she couldn't help but glance at the healed burn marks on her left arm.

Once more, Jake raised his hands, and the crowd fell silent. "{Our home is not just a village or place, but amongst our people, with Eywa,}" he said, looking at each of them around him. "{I know this decision is difficult. But understand that our enemy will attack day and night until we are all killed. To keep our families and our children safe, we have to move.}"

The audience became silent, taking in Jake's words, and Kiri took a few moments to look around. Some Na'vi warriors, Lo'ak, Spider, and Neteyam, were clearly dissatisfied with Jake's remarks. On the other hand, most villagers and Mo'at were saddened, but Neytiri's wore a combined expression of fury and sorrow. Nonetheless, Kiri felt in her heart that this was the appropriate course of action. She was aware of how destructive human technology could be.

Yet Kiri felt enormous shame as though this were her fault, and she hugged herself. Spider saw this and placed a soothing touch on her arm.

"{Now, gather all the belongings that you can carry, and we'll make our way towards the Ayram Alusing,}" Jake said, referring to the Hallelujah Mountains, and he gestured to one of the male warriors next to him. "{Tarsem and Mo'at will lead the evacuation.}"

Tarsem took a step forward and bowed to everyone. He was a youthful warrior, wise beyond his years, and well-liked by the majority of the clan. "{We will load everything we can onto the Pa'li before departing, and our warriors will defend our people,}" he said to the gathering. The word Pa'li was the Na'vi word for the direhorses.