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81. Gods walking among Mortals
🕑 Added 2023-09-02 17:53:57 +0000 UTCTsireya focuses and that of many of her fellow Na'vi and tulkun were onto the sky as gasps and clicks of shock echoed within the mixed crowd were heard all around.
All recognized this deeply respected creature, a creature that was known to be the ruler of the sky, forest, and mountains, none expected a select few tulkuns had seen such a creature by their own eyes and not that of their ancestors at a Spirit Tree, the aquatic variant of a Tree of Souls.
The danger such as being represented for the ilus, the youngest of tulkun calves, and Na'vi should have led to a building panic or a large shift from them to flee and protect themselves but it was the exact opposite that was happening.
They stayed perfectly still, completely enraptured in the moment. Awe, adulation, and marvel at the approaching Apex predator of the sky, but it wasn't the beast receiver of all of those sentiments, it was the one atop of it, her presence akin to a sun burning in the complete darkness.
Some with weaker constitutions both physically and mentally were already feeling feeble under such a presence so far above them approaching their location. It was an event that would be spoken of for the many, many generations to come, it was to be seen, heard and felt for it to be shared and kept alive forever within their memories.
Yet it wasn't the only point of focus as the eldest of the tulkuns with also a young adult waiting for something to happen had felt a sudden shift within the water below.
A shift that was the telltale of something massive approaching and whose body absorbed the constant clicks emitted by their organs at each the sides of their snouts that were highly developed and sensitive echolocation organs almost totally hiding it from them.
It was swimming upward at great speed, its massive shadow starting to be more noticeable to the Na'vi. More and more noticed, all having instantly understood that it was caused by another Apex predator, one of the seas they were immensely more familiar with than the one of the sky, second in size and mass only to the peaceful whales of Pandora.
One that could fight on equal ground and kill one with relative ease against the largest tulkun bull in a physical contest due to the shark's extremely thick armor, its stealth, and the most powerful jaws of any animal species presently alive.
These battles had happened many times in the tales from a bloody and ancient past and would still be true to this day.
Tulkuns are greatly ashamed of those times and why since then and for the future their way of life, the Tulkun Way, was nonviolent, banning all forms of violence and killing excluding the ones with the purpose of nutrition as their biology hasn't changed and they still are obligate carnivores, filter feeder to be exact, but it was done in a way strictly to sustain themselves.
As flawed as many would call their ideology of total peace they weren't suicidal but if a fight were to happen they would always choose to swim away no matter the circumstance. An example of how ingrained this philosophy was in their species' collective memory.
And if there are loss of lives then there will be no revenge and no hate will be born either, only acceptance and grievances, it was life and life was not easy even for them.
However this news of a nalutsa having suddenly reached them didn't lead to any fear in the one in the known, words had spread thanks to one tulkun having seen a fight between a flying beast of metal, its rider, the most known human and the same nalutsa that was currently approaching them.
This same tulkun had seen this man somehow, some way, somewhat bond, and dominate the nalutsa, nalutsa that was one of the major reasons none had dared to get close to the island that the said man had decided to take it as is. Aside from the man's name itself.
And the fear that still sprung above by this sudden appearance was calmed down to a degree by Ronal hissed out words of warning, <Do not act rashly upon your primal impulse. This nalutsa is the mount of the creature inhabiting those islands.>
The next instant the calm sea bathed under the picturesque night sky of Pandora was breached by the appearance of a bulky, muscular tailless figure, visibly male dressed in bizarre clothes of dark shining grey, appeared, his hands behind his back as more of his body rose, with under him a portion of the shadow that was a nalutsa that here was used as nothing more than a platform.
Then the unique mask-hat hybrid covering his entire head unfolded faster than they could blink revealing dark brown braided hair and beard in a style foreign to them, thick eyebrows of the same color, a strangely shaped nose, sun-kissed skin upon defined feature, and a small smirk contracting deeply with his most striking feature; his eyes aside the difference in species.
Two icy cold and ethereal silver orbs that seemed to shine as they emotionlessly evaluated, deconstructed, and analyzed methodically everything and anything they landed upon with no emotions aside from mild curiosity and amusement as if what was before was of medium importance.
<The Olo'eyktan of the Sky People… The Lost Child…>, Ronal said, her voice quivering as it spread far and wide, her eyes mixed with terror and fascination upon the being three dozen meters in front of her that stood still on the nalutsa's carapace, his very presence overwhelming her that she found herself instinctively trying to look away to her immense shock.
After her words, instant recognition flashed into the minds of every Na'vi and tulkun who hadn't realized who this strange creature was until now.
For them barring a few adventurous ones, it was the first time they saw an human and what an impactful experience it was, one that would lead to relief and disappointment as the specimen in front of them was as human as they were to such was how far he was from the norm of his 'species'.
This revelation of who this man was brought a different set of emotions all virtually entirely antithetical to the earlier ones for the All-Mother, he was both famous and infamous outpacing that of the Toruk Makto manifold.
Words of mouth of his actions had spread far and wide from before and after the battle where the RDA was vanquished, eight years of tales some sounding completely impossible, the People living in the reef not being an exception and having heard of these legends.
He ripped machines and people apart with ruthlessness using only his bare hand, running at incomprehensible speed as he danced on the battlefield with an armor impermeable to a rain of death of leed as he bathed in blood and organs.
A power that lets him have an infinite pocket where he takes at his will deadly weapons he is expert at and the ability to gain control of the wildlife with no queue. A deep knowledge of the art of destruction and death.
But that was only one side, a small one but one that by itself for the heart of many dwarfed that of his more positive exploit such as the pacification between Sky People and the Omatikaya and many Na'vi clans, the gift of mobility and ability to cripple, the massive shift in how the Sky People worked such as a total stop to land-based mining exterior and so much more.
And the most absurd fact about it all that until now was wishfully ignored in sheer denial such was it an almost heretical thought. He was Eywa's mate and here right in front of their very own eyes, the most sensitive of individuals to the ways of the most exoteric side of this couldn't deny it any longer.
There was something, something beyond mortal words could explain, yet they could sense it, an aura all familiar to them similar yet distinctly more potent and clear was around him and was identical to the pulse that knocked a large portion of the Tsahìk present unconscious and it stretched to the world around as if partially coalesced to it.
Yet as strong as this phenomenon, proof of his deep and intricate tie to the All-Mother, deeper than any Na'vi be they Tsahìk, tsakarem or not, or even the most sensible of tulkun yet it was distinctively different than there. He was not in harmony with the life and world around him, but the omnipresent force behind him was of one equality, both embracing the other.
But simultaneously it was as if two opposites were in a homogenous relation with the other both repelling and attracting one another in an eternal dance of antithesis, one without the others seeming lacking and incomplete.
But that last part was only truly felt by the most acute of tulkun and Na'vi such as Ronal the Tsahìk of the Mektayina and her Spirit Sister tulkun. And while it was bearable for tulkuns, it was edging on the limit point of unbearable for many others.
Then the man spoke, fracturing the oppressive silence born of his appearance, his eyes moving over everyone as he did so, his smile widening ever so slightly for a reason none understood that sent chills to the spine of more than one. It was the eyes of someone who would not hesitate to kill in cold blood, and much worse if necessary.
But his smile was because he won a bet, and the reward for it later. A bet between him and Eywa about who would have arrived first and he won because he started first, and traveled through a large cave on the island while she needed to fly back up, adding that Aegis was surprisingly fast for its bulk and body shape.
<Lost Child hmmm… It has been quite a few years since anyone used this title to speak of me while in my presence or that I heard it spoken at all.>, his powerful voice rumbled into the ears of everyone no matter how far from him they were, he spoke with the tongue of the People, his pronunciation perfect, the light accent within only adding to the power behind it.
Then powerful gusts of wind were felt as the main point of interest and the emitter of Psionic pulse finally arrived, her body held in equilibrium at the time of the head crest of a Great Leonopteryx.
The attention of everyone shifted to her as her pale pink eyes gazed upon her children as a warm smile graced her shape that was for them like her body the image of sheer perfection in the form resembling that of an adult female Na'vi, sharing similarity to all variant of Na'vi depending the climates yet being of strictly none.
Many fainted on the spot, her presence through her simple passive Psionic even if suppressed emission was exceptionally hard to bear with the emotional impact of seeing the Avatar of their Goddess, their creator, their mother, the being breathing life into them and the ones that was the representation of nature itself of this astral body they were on.
Adding that the ones present were almost exclusively Tsahìk, tsakarem, and tulkun, all three deeply in contact with the All-Mother representing in some form the equivalent of the most faithful religious figure for humans being able to look upon their deity. It would have an impact.
And all that did blank out fell slowly upon their mounts without any possibility of injury or drawing, a fact that almost did go unnoticed if not for the young ones such as Na'vi and tulkun were the least affected, their mind more malleable and adaptable suppressing the shock factor, their lack of context for what was unfolding helping just as much.
It was too much at once but the ones that kept themselves awake felt a wave's calmness and serenity by an outer force without them noticing was intervening, and once all woke up this feeling would spread stopping any hysteria or potential similar problem.
<A title that We deem is now unfit for our mate, don't you agree my Liam?>, the Avatar of the All-Mother suddenly said, her voice enchanting, endearing, and melodious enrapturing the heart of all but in particular to the individual she spoke the name of whose feature softened as he looked up at her.
Then she jumped down, her long breaded hair of the purest of white flowing down in a way only they should in water but that was the least supernatural aspect of it all.
She was hovering down, an impossible feat that surprised even Liam, her long tail ending in a braided tuft of white hair waving in the air as she moved toward her partner, her hand extending toward him as he grasped it in his gauntlet.
The artificial pads over the palm and digits gave a solid grip as he gently tugged her downward which she didn't resist falling into and let herself fall in his arms, showing that both were of around equal size. The feeling was completely different than when he was under several kilograms of metals and polymer but it was far from unpleasant.
Such a sight of casual love that only was seen between mates was not without any reaction, shock permeated the place for those coherent enough as it anchored into reality the rumors and what they have felt.
It was surreal, even the tulkuns held difficulty believing this was the truth but what they felt didn't matter, it wasn't a simple bond, it was so much more. It was reality and the joy radiating was rapidly spreading toward them.
The second most shocking aspect of this situation was that Eywa was intervening, shattering her neutrality that was held for as long as both tulkuns and Na'vi could remember except for special cases but this was different.
She wasn't intervening because of an impending threat that would kill untold trillion, all life considered, but out of something fundamentally and purely selfish. Something for herself and that of another, an alien to the biosphere of Pandora, It wasn't bad, the opposite but it was a fact that should be false.
<Oh! It's like with Daddy and Mommy!>, Tsireya stood up and pointed her finger at the couple of beings so far above her as a regular Na'vi girl of seven years old.
Her excited and unfiltered voice brought terror to Ronal and a small amused smile to Eywa as the small Na'vi felt like someone was ruffling her hair. This smile had a calming effect upon the girl's mother whose relief flooded her system.
<Indeed… The term child is not appropriate And what might you have in mind my Eywa?>, Liam said accentuating the 'my' just like she did. A detail he didn't find unpleasant, quite the contrary, and a detail that didn't go unnoticed either.
<Just as little Tseraya of the Metkayina had said and the daughter of Grace… As the All-Mother my other half, you, could be but the opposite, my opposite, the All-Father. You can breathe life into your creation just as We do. You chose not to but that is to change.>, Eywa said, her words reaching all, causing Tseraya to be overjoyed and her mother to feel lightheaded that her daughter's words were as silly as they were acknowledged by the Great Mother.
Liam nodded his hand moving one of her bread that dropped over her eyes and obscured his view. Eywa's words were a simple truth as he didn't hide that he could, he didn't say it explicitly but it was clear that he could.
Once the Tek Replicator was finished he would make 'children' of his own with it to improve their chance of survival be it directly or indirectly. As of now, he doesn't even have the raw resources to build more than one Obelisk, and the most pressing threat was the RDA and UN deciding to attack from orbits and the danger that destroying one of their spaceships represented. Anti-matter was no laughing matter.
What followed was the Na'vi and tulkuns remaining completely silent, none daring to speak until Liam decided to use the opportunity to build a beneficial relationship for himself and that of humans and the sapient life form of Pandora.
<I have a proposition for all of you, for all clans and pods, one for an equal exchange of knowledge, and more.>, his voice boomed as he offered, an offer he had the habit of giving, immediately after a brave young male tulkun swam toward him and was soon followed by the one Ronal was standing upon and many more.
