BLUE /// JAKE & NEYTIRI

{3} ~training~

𝖇𝖑𝖚𝖊

the next day, neytiri took jake to a mud river to teach him how to ride direhorses. imani had left early that morning to prepare for jake's training, leaving neytiri to deal with waking him, and teaching him the na'vi morning life.

"i thought imani was joining us?" jake said, following after neytiri as she hopped over a muddy river.

"she is." neytiri spoke, gesturing behind jake where imani was riding on the back of a direhorse, leading her over with a smile. she slid off the horses back, disconnecting their queues as she did so.

"ma'wey, girl, easy." imani muttered, soothing the horse gently as she became skittish. when she calmed, imani turned to neytiri and jake, squinting through the sun. "good morning."

"she says, 'good morning'." neytiri translated to jake before skipping over. "my love." she grinned, hugging her mate gently, pressing a kiss to her cheek. neytiri and imani were almost the same height, imani standing an inch shorter than neytiri but it was barely noticeable.

"ma'tiri." imani grinned before turning to jake who walked over slowly, feeling slightly awkward at how openly affectionate they were. from what he had observed, na'vi were closer physically to one another than humans. "pa'li is direhorse. we ride to battle on land, hunt on land."

"easy boy." jake muttered, placing his hands on the horse's neck, feeling her skin.

"pa'li is female." neytiri noted, holding the horse still.

"mount her." imani gestured to the horse. jake looked at her unsure but did as told, placing his hands on her back and hopped in place a little before clambering onto her back with a grunt. "now, make tsaheylu."

neytiri held out the horses queue towards him, waiting for the avatar to do as he was told. he grabbed his own and carefully connected them together, gasping at the odd feeling.

"that is tsaheylu, the bond. feel her. feel her heart beat. her breath. feel her strong legs. you may tell her what to do. inside." neytiri instructed, patting her temple with the tip of her pointer finger. "for now, say where to go."

jake thought for a moment before pointing ahead of him. "forward!" he announced loudly.

the direhorse shot off into a sprint, knocking jake off of her back immediately. imani gasped at the sudden speed of the direhorse barging past her and jumped back, looking between jake and the horse in shock.

jake landed in the mud with a splat, groaning with his face in a muddy puddle. imani's shock turned to amusement as jake lifted his head, covered in mud as he squinted his eyes shut. "are you okay?" she asked as neytiri cackled, racing after the horse to calm her down and bring her back over. "that was funny."

"funny for you." jake grunted, wiping his eyes. he couldn't help but smile as well as she helped him off the ground, flicking a speck of mud from his nose.

their conversation was short lived as tsu'tey arrived with the other warriors, riding on horseback. they laughed at his misfortune, some even pointing like children. "you should go away." tsu'tey said, looking down at him from his horse.

"nah." jake shook his head, a sarcastic smile on his face. "you'd miss me. i knew you could speak english."

tsu'tey scoffed and turned his attention to imani and neytiri. "this alien will learn nothing! a rock see's more than him!" he said in their native tongue.