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20. Tsu'mong
🕑 Added 2023-05-02 17:41:29 +0000 UTCIt has been two weeks and a half since Liam saw the aircraft, there wasn't any human that came or anything human-made he saw during those. Not for lack of trying but at least he had a rough idea of where one human settlement might be from and the direction the aircraft was moving.
The fact they took a young great austrapede didn't bother him, he wasn't going to play the moral high ground in that aspect and he didn't know why it was taken in the first place but even if the naive part of him wanted it to be because it was injured or something he knew better. It wasn't the case.
It was sad and needlessly cruel but it was life. The luckiest, more adaptable, smartest, and strongest in whatever category needed to have more chances of survival. Something quite clear to him.
And the humans themselves, if they truly became aware of him which would happen, unless he hid in a hole for all his life which he wouldn't and couldn't do unless he was ready to forsake everything and live for how long he has a caveman.
The dissecting table for him was the most likely end if he messed up, it was very delicate and very, very unpleasant to think about.
Depending on how interesting he was, which he was plenty, to say he was the most interesting thing that has ever happened to humanity wouldn't be far from the exact truth.
He had a wealth of knowledge, his biology, and his unknown origin. One of the three would be enough to put a target on his back but the three at the same time… It's a matter of time before some part of his obvious uniqueness is known, such as that no human should be here breathing the air of Pandora like this for the most noticeable.
It will cause the utmost interest of a space-faring civilization between its members over who POSSESS him, be it alive or dead, it was a terrifying prospect and quite possibly an inevitable objective of those as of yet only hypothetical but very plausible threat.
At least that's what he thought but generally being pessimistic with the higher-ups of humanity tended to prove more often than not to be the absolute truth, as cynical as it sounds. Particularly when money is involved.
Even more so considering the movie, one of the people in charge decided to commit genocide on the native not that it is uncommon in human history which is a worrying fact in itself.
And unlike the movies, he wasn't certain if the Na'vi had plot armor or if the humans were incompetent to the extreme. And he didn't count on it for his future survival.
The only good thing was that for a space-faring civilization on the technological aspect they didn't seem THAT advanced if the 'primitive' aircraft he saw was their average and what he remembered from the movie. Yet 'primitive' or not he wasn't rocket or orbital bombardment proof as is.
The future promises to be interesting.
Sighing with these thoughts about potential Liam connected to Septen, the juvenile tetrapteron was resting on his head.
The three other tetrapterons were currently flying around Gladius who was playfully trying to catch them, the four tetrapteron started to fly after barely a week and a half of them hatching.
The lack of feathers that needed to grow was the main factor for their early flight plus their natural biology, accompanied by a healthy and adapted diet and their link to Liam resulted in them growing fast.
He didn't want perfect little pets that acted cute after all. Not that there wasn't some of that as companionship was needed but he didn't risk his life and killed multiple wild tetrapterons and caused so much damage for simple pets that serve no purpose besides being pretty on his shoulder pads or parrot what he says.
There were tools in a certain sense as any other description of them will be unsuitable, no disposable ones, he was investing in them and was attached to them as one would to their pets. They are far from being risk-free to get either but that didn't change the underlying reason for him having hatched them.
Gladius in that aspect was different as it was unplanned but regardless, he treated the four tetrapteron just like their murder chicken elder, he fed them the best kind of foods, food adapted to his knowledge toward their best development and need.
This wasn't the only thing he did, training in all forms was just as important. Nothing hard or dangerous for them, because as if a toddler can become crippled because of excessive exercise so would the five of his young tames.
This was for later when they are older. Which also comes with armor, mostly for Gladius but some bit and piece here and could be down for Orien, Meri, Septen, and Occiden.
Most of what was done was mentals, be it in enrichment with contraptions made of simple mechanisms and puzzles that force them to use their brains, of course of all that was mostly on Gladius, it was the oldest and most developed.
The others were too young to truly understand, but they were plenty of progress.
Honestly, the absolute trust they had in him plus the link made it simple to train them, a link that was shared between them too from various experiences and memory dip, however, it only told the general location and moods which was still a very big advantage giving inherent coordination between everyone.
That brought the idea he was the heart and brain of some sort of mini hive mind and that was slightly strange to consider if a bit of putting.
Particularly with the knowledge of what Element can potentially become in some of its forms and that his implant fused with his very flesh ran on that Element by means he wasn't sure but the forefront hypothesis was that it used its growing capabilities in some shape or form with his biology to keep everything working.
This aside, the future possibility of this small flock was high, beyond scouting they could for example be used as bombarders. Making specialized explosives and teaching them how to use them as possible.
Eyes dilated and closed Liam focused on the link and with what he learned got glimpses of Septen's recent memories of its little hunt. The four could fly for at least half an hour straight and quite fast at that which would only increase in the future.
The feeling even if bastardized and not real of flying was difficult to describe aside from a sense of freedom, it was an exceptional feeling but it wasn't his.
Memories are fallible, and inexact most of the time. The brain filters the 'important' of the 'useless' parts constantly, and they are susceptible to change from the owner's perspective to Liam's own too.
It wasn't a computer he was connected to but a being of flesh and naturally carbon-reinforced bone. Not only that but they were from another species that saw and felt the world completely differently than he did.
Liam was aware of this and every piece of information he gained was taken with a grain of salt, that didn't mean they weren't clear, just that they can be potentially misleading in theory. Here what he was seeing was a Na'vi carving something on a viperwolf skull.
The Na'vi was a young male, and next to him was a direhorse sipping the nectar of a flower, there was a basket on each side of the six-legged horse of which bones, a bow, and a battle staff were poking out.
'Fucking finally! That was you, the bone carver! And likely one who tried to open the gateway I suppose heh. Interesting… I hope he isn't as xenophobic as the one I disposed of…', Liam thought, taking a deep breath as the physical link was gently broken and a piece of meat was given to Septen who cawed happily at the free treat.
Since his four birds could fly he made them scout during night and day all having a shift to rest, play and eat even if the latter more often than not happened while scooting.
He gathered information not only on the topography, and movement of the fauna but also on the Na'vi group even if technically speaking they are also part of the fauna.
They were few and far in between, the ones he saw with his own eyes were from very far away, and in a group of at least 50, a small clan he guessed, the others were during the night through the eyes of his tetrapterons where and these ones moved at minimum in groups of two.
He used Orien to track the small clan and he found an area that 'safely' led to the underground, the Sacred Hollow unknown to him, it wasn't that far from him compared to the area he mined sulfur.
It was however hidden by dense vegetation within the entanglement of roots from a very old-looking lightning rod tree and currently where the small clan rested.
Yet he needed to learn, got more acclimated with the native to not get shot on sight, and what better option than a curious and lone Na'vi?
And even with his tames he needed someone to talk to in a civilized manner to keep his sanity in check, he could actually build a radio with what he had and try to communicate with humans but that was simply too dangerous to do so.
And there was a high chance it wouldn't work either way as he doubted there were humans close enough for his DIY radio signals to be captured or other unforeseen circumstances stopping the signal such as the unobtanium/pandorium.
And so the next few days were focused on tracking the bone carver, now that he had a real sighting all came down to predicting the Na'vi movement which was fairly easy when you have a starting point, the air advantage and know your target general interest.
When Liam found the Na'vi again he sent a message in the form of a piece of white paper fiber with an extremely detailed drawing of the entrance to his base.
The Na'vi reaction to Meri flying above him and dropping a small cylinder of wood containing the drawing on top of his head was hilarious.
This wasn't Liam's intention but the young bird's own machination, apparently they shared this same animosity with anything non-him.
The outrage of the Na'vi having himself be attacked by a young tetrapteron then the surprise at the clearly handmade object, followed by puzzlement as he fumbled around trying to find what it did until he uncorked it by mistake and saw the paper which was followed by shock, fear and then curiosity.
The bone carver after that started to move toward his base, as Liam intended. It was better this way than him scaring or causing the Na'vi to react aggressively by him randomly popping up.
This led to the present situation, the Na'vi atop his direhorse, his left-hand millimeter away from grabbing his battle staff behind him as he gazed warily and with the utmost shock at the Sky Person walking confidently out of the giant door.
A human, one without those strange metal bows without string that kill, strange devices on their face, those same close yet made of plant and animal hide, and with no other humans or metal birds close in the sky. Far from any of their settlements and all alone. It was sad in a way.
The Na'vi didn't even know this place was built by Sky People, the first time he thought it was an area abandoned by an unknown group of Na'vi, the sound of Gladius's scream having made him think that it had become the nest of a great austrapede and that he awakened one of its young.
Also why he ran as fast as he could at the time. The most dangerous aspect of great austrapede besides everything else was their sheer aggressiveness, something multiplied when with their young.
The shock of the Na'vi only grew and with it came fear as from the same door a great austrapede came out, a young one only a head taller than the human but it was growling and glaring at him, then he noticed four tetrapterons flying around until a green one landed delicately onto the man's right shoulder.
Fear that vanished to be replaced by great confusion and befuddlement as the young great austrapede aggression dissipated when the human scratched the back of its head.
The small glare from the human at the five of them and amused smirk didn't come unnoticed and puzzled the Na'vi further.
"Welcome to my humble dwelling… I'm Liam Cram, a human from a very faraway place. I steered you here as I simply want to learn, about the People.", Liam's voice and his body language were friendly.
At least Liam hoped it was perceived as such by the Na'vi. The point wasn't exactly to be understood in words but in intention, a thing that will prove to be unneeded.
There was a pending silence, the Na'vi processing what he was seeing, such as the young great austrapede demanding even more head scratch, the way the tetrapteron on the human shoulder seemed jealous, and the three others that landed at the top of the gate and then his rough understanding of what the human just said.
Then his eyes widened as he remembered the words of the Tsahìk from this small wandering clan a dozen days ago, it still didn't explain what he was seeing and the sheer impossibility of it but now he had an idea.
The Na'vi decided to trust his intuition, there was a lot to gain and little to lose. An opportunity like this wasn't going to present itself again, maybe he will even be able to help his clan from the harassment of Sky People wanting to steal what they prided themselves in.
Dismounting his direhorse, leaving his battle staff and bow on the horseback who refused to follow him, staying rooted in place, its instinct stopping from approaching a certain bladed bird.
But no matter, it was a human even if he was the supposed Lost Child, his attention was mostly on the great austrapede, he only stopped advancing when the big bird started to 'growl' at him. Which was immediately calmed down by a simple glance from the human to his surprise yet again.
"I salute you <Lost Child> Liam Cram, I'm <Tsu'mong Irweykxeum Te Räätìtxwe> of the Anurai let it be… <No those aren't the words.>. I accept, if what you want is learn, I can do, but trade it will be. For request of your I request learning equally about your own people.", the now-named Tsu'mong spoke calmly in broken English, with a very heavy 'alien' accent, to the shock of Liam.
And so a deal was sealed.
