I see you, Tsu'tey

Chapter 34

Awa frowned and pushed away the barely-started bowl she was braiding before glaring at the green leaves that flopped as it hit the ground. She heard some of Neytiri's friends giggle but when she looked in their direction they immediately quieted down and went back to their gossiping. No matter how many times she tried to make a simple bowl, one that was supposedly so easy even the children did it without a problem, and each time the object looked more and more like butchered leaves.

"Gentle, Awa, gentle." Neytiri reminded her and gestured towards Awa's broken creation. "Try again."

The dreamwalker sneered at it in frustration, itching to stand up and throw it to the end of the world. The mere look of it disgusted her and made her want to go and hide somewhere no one would find her. At the end of her internal tantrum she reluctantly reached down with red, sore hands and picked up her shame before grabbing one of the unused leaves in between Neytiri and her.

"I'll never finish it. Could you imagine that? I'm being taught the way of the Na'vi people by the best teacher but can't even weave a simple bowl." She mocked herself with a deep scowl and a hint of tears to her eyes.

"It comes with practice." The Na'vi princess shot back and curled her lip into a slight grin as she bowed her head to hide the snicker. Neytiri had at least five of the bowls finished neatly by her side and her friends ten each that were stacked together.

"Practice my ass." Awa muttered under her breath and harshly grabbed the leaf that was supposed to be weaved in next. Half of it stuck out in the line she was doing but she was beyond caring about how it looked, she was not made for this kind of work-- she was a warrior, a hunter, not a weaver of baskets or such matters.

"What does 'ass' mean?" Neytiri's friend Lu'o asked with a slow blink. "English is a bad language, not like na'vi."

"Ass." Awa translated with a mocking smile as she blinked back at the friend. "Na'vi is beautiful indeed. " The dreamwalker deliberately had her pronunciation off on most of the words to spite the young Na'vi woman who was sneering at her.

"Be kind." Neytiri said to no one in particular, most likely directing it at both Lu'o and Awa, both of them were staring incredulously at their common friend before they furiously glared at each other. "I can see that. Don't make me get Atxa to lecture you, Awa, and you Lu'o I will get Tru'ha!"

"No, Neytiri." Both of them churosed before going back to their separate weaving, Lu'o's being as beautiful as ever and Awa's looking worse than ever. Now the entire thing was being weaved in the opposite direction and the bottom was beginning to unravel as her hasty fingers barely ghosted the structure of it before building the height.

Her eyes glared daggers into it and her tail swished in an agitated manner behind her. She let out a groan that had a slight of a hiss to the end of it, like a petulant Na'vi child not getting another bite of syaksyuk offal. Awa was tempted to throw it away again but she knew better than to mess with Neytiri's patience, already she could see a slight down-pull of her lips and a hint of a glare when her eyes danced over to meet hers. No, it was better to do what she was supposed to and then leave the small group of weaving Na'vi women.

"Tsu'tey would like it if you gifted him the bowl." Neytiri commented off-handedly and then looked back down on her bowl as if she had not just said what said. Awa caught just a glimpse of the teasing look on her face and though she was trying to hide her fondness for the mighty warrior of the blue flute clan she couldn't help the smile that grew on her lips and the flutter in her chest.