𐌄𐌋𐌙𐌉𐌍Ᏽ Ꮤ𐌉𐌕𐋅 𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌍𐌌𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌊𐌀𐌙𐌀 (Aᕓ𐌀𐌕𐌀𐌓𐋄𐌍𐌂𐌔)

\\ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟛//

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On another rainy morning, Nate and Ke'Kaya crept quietly, stalking a large male Hexapede, a six-legged deer-like creature. Nate expertly nocks an arrow and draws his bow as Ke'Kaya watches. He takes a bead on the hexapede, and tracks it for a beat with his drawn bow, before Ke'Kaya places her hand on his elbow, causing him to look back at her. She shakes her head, her eyes big and sad, blinking like a doe staring at a human.

'It's been a month, and I'm still not allowed to make a kill. She says the forest hasn't given permission.'

Nate sighs and lowers his bow, watching the Hexapede walk away as it grazes.

Ke'Kaya and Nate crawl through the undergrowth. She points, and he parts some leaves to see a mother viper wolf bringing meat to her cubs, which frisk around her legs. She licks their faces.

'I'm not going to lie, all this talk about the flow of energy, the spirits of the animals and their connection to the forest, each other, and the people, it's all confusing at times but, it's a good message, a beautiful thing.'

Nate and Ke'Kaya move through the night forest, surrounded by galaxies of shimmering bioluminescence. They move gracefully, soundlessly, like two forest spirits. Nate paused, jogging on a tree root leading over rocks and bushes, looking out over the forest floor. The pupils of his cat eyes dilate, and the night forest floods his brain with its million bio-sources like the ground was a mirror reflecting the starry night sky. From overhead, Nate watches as Ke'Kaya holds her bow, fishing from a dugout canoe over huge glowing Anemones, or sea anemones, at the bottom of a pool. A large fish swims silhouetted against the pastel glow. ZAP! Ke'Kaya drills it. She holds up the fish, triumphantly with a large smile on her face. Nate laughs and smiles, feeling his ears perk slightly as he watches her pull the fish off her arrow and place it in a basket beside her.

Another day, Ke'Kaya stands close beside Nate, adjusting his position as he draws his bow. Only now, when she goes to correct his perfect stance, her hands are so gentle as they move on his arms, his shoulders. Aware of her touch, Nate's focus is broken, and he turns his eyes from the target and toward the shorter Na'vi. Their eyes meet, and Ke'Kaya stares at him for a second. She steps back and turns away, swallowing as she blinks, turning her eyes toward the target.

Night falls, and the two hunters enter a clearing filled with chest-high ferns. They approach a creature on one of the ferns, an ugly, stick-like lizard thing perched on a leaf. As Nate approaches, he slowly lifts his hand and his pointer finger ghosts over the insect's wing and -snap! A long spine whips in a circle, unfurling a colorful bioluminescent membrane. A disk-shaped wing, opening like a Chinese fan. It croaks, flying off, like a living Frisbee. The fan Lizard floats across the clearing, and both Nate and Ke'Kaya smile in glee as they watch. Ke'Kaya plunges among the ferns with a sharp cry. An explosion of color as dozens of fan Lizards take flight.

Grinning widely, she hops around like a little girl, her hair dangling as she laughs. All the Fan Lizards go to settle on shrubs only to be ushered back into the air as Nate and Ke'Kaya chase them around. And for the first time in a long time, Ke'Kaya is unguarded and joyful, totally herself with Nate. Nate smiles softly as he watches the young princess run after the colorful insect, cupping her hands under them to push them back into the air. Nate closes his eyes as crickets and fog noises fill his feline ears, the sound of his and Ke'Kaya's feet on the mossy ground. Nate reopens his eyes and looks over at his teacher. The beads in her hair shone along with all the bioluminescent, leaf, and bead bangles on her arms and feet, and the way her tail swayed in excitement.

Inside the Link, Nate's eyes open in the darkness. And for a second, he forgets where he is. He weakly pushes open the lid, blinking at the light.

'Everything is backward now. Like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream.'