𐌄𐌋𐌙𐌉𐌍Ᏽ Ꮤ𐌉𐌕𐋅 𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌍𐌌𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌊𐌀𐌙𐌀 (Aᕓ𐌀𐌕𐌀𐌓𐋄𐌍𐌂𐌔)

\\ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟚//

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The next morning, Ke'Kaya showed Nate how to navigate the forest. They ran over rivers and jumped over rocks. Nate looked down at his feet as he followed Ke'Kaya up a root system that took them into the trees. He looked up, his eyes darting after the blue blur as his mentor ducked and dodged other tree branches. Ke'Kaya had her bow secured in her right hand, every so often looking over her shoulder to make sure Nate was still there. Nate nodded, panting. Day after day they did this, Ke'Kaya taking a new and harder trail every day. Nate chased his mentor, coping her moves when she'd grab a tree branch and swing onto a higher ledge, or change direction. Nate's lungs burnt, but not in a bad way this time. He could feel how his direction changed when he flicked his tail and how if he angeled his ears down, the wind passed right over them without a sound.

'My feet are getting tougher. I can run farther every day.'

Nate smiles to himself, pulling his body forward and pushing harder to catch up with Ke'Kaya. He'd managed to run up right behind her, watching her tail sway as she ran. Ke'Kaya suddenly jumped, and Nate had to skid to a stop before he plummeted off the root end and into the ravine below. Bringing his eyes up, Nate watched Ke'Kaya jump, and grab a hanging vine, twirling like a tornado as she slid down. Nate panted, watching the young Na'vi swing and land on a rock face edge, gripping the hanging vines as she caught her breath, looking back up at Nate, now a medium spek on the high branch. Nate cracked his neck as he drew in a deep breath, taking a few steps back Nate grit his teeth before throwing himself off the tree limb. 

'I have to trust my body to know what to do.'

"AAAHH~!" Nate exclaimed, forcing himself to keep his eyes open as he grabbed and grabbed at the hanging vines. 

Finally grabbing one, Nate shut his eyes for a second, hissing at the burns forming on his hands as he desended, eventually letting go and face planting into the rock face beside Ke'Kaya. 

"Shit~!" He muttered, holding his nose, pushing at his k9 with his tongue. 

Ke'Kaya threw her head back and laughed, slapping Nate's upper arm with the back of her hand before beginning to run again. 

That night, Nate had just finished his shower and walked back into the kitchen for a late-night snack when he saw Jake, sitting in front of the fridge looking over all the pictures of Grace and the Na'vi children from her school.

"Hey," Nate called out.

Jake jerked his head up, relaxing once he realized it was Nate.

"Hey," He called back.

"Thinking hard?" Nate asked, walking forward to sit on the table opposite Jake.

"Just wondering about something," Jake replied, pulling a picture of Grace, Ke'Kaya, Neytiri, and their older sister off the fridge.

"You wanna try and get her back into the village?" Nate asked, grabbing a bag of chips next to him.

"Hmm," Jake chuckled.

"Something like that," He answered before quietly rolling away.

Over the next few days, Jake spent his time sweet-talking Mo'at into giving Norm and Grace a hall pass into the village. The Matriarch didn't protest too much, as she knew Grace from a long time ago, and knew she was no trouble. It was Norm, she was skeptical about. He was weird and awkwardly formal, and Mo'at just watched him as Na'vi women swarmed him. Nate chuckled as he watched him, turning his head when Ke'Kaya walked next to him. He looked down at the shorter Na'vi, watching her eyes and her head tilted as she looked over Grace.