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[Kiyevanie]

While Ash was letting herself sink down again, Ni'ka thought about her words, once more wondering how things really were back in her old home.  A lot of it depended on the question of whether Yan'ku had been captured too or had somehow escaped the Tawtute kunsip.  If her childhood friend had been lucky, he might have told her family and the Clan about her abduction.  If not, then for her Clan two young hunters had just disappeared into thin air.  She hoped that she had been the only one taken away - for one, because although she hadn't wanted to be Yan'ku's mate, she still cared for him as a friend; and for another, then her family would have at least some idea about what had happened to her.  She fervently hoped that the Changed ones or even the red mist hadn't made it to her old Clan - the cold would be bad enough, especially as they didn't have Tawtute friends bringing warm clothes or hot springs to warm up the weak ones.

Would she want to go back?  This wasn't the first time she had asked herself that question and it wouldn't be the last.  She'd always be Changed, inside and outside...but at least now, especially with her tanhi coming back, she didn't look like a wild beast anymore.  People no longer shied away at first glance.  But...those were people who didn't know her any other way; for the Tompa'tanhi, she had always been Ni'ka, the Changed one who had managed to escape the Red.  For her loved ones at home she'd be Ni'ka, the one who would never be the person she'd been before.

And would she even find the place?  At first she had thought of it as a clear "no".  She didn't even know what direction she'd have to look, and nobody besides the Tawtute who captured her knew where Ni'ka's old Clan was located.  But - that wasn't true, wasn't it?  There was always Lor--strong, loyal, beautiful Lor, who had followed her from the first day and found her.  Wouldn't Ni'ka's Ikran also know the way back?  So far Ni'ka hadn't dared to ask, but if she were ever to try to go back, that was at least something to start with.

If she'd ever try.  Ash had said she'd have a tale to tell, that she was a hero who should be celebrated.  At this moment that was still far from how Ni'ka thought about herself.

The dark huntress slipped back into the deep part of the springs too, closing her eyes.  Any decision was still far ahead in the future, after the battle with Vrrtep was fought...and assuming she was still alive.  At the moment they just had a short, precious break, and Ni'ka tried to get as much peace out of it as possible.

[Random the Navigator]

Eventually, however, the two women did have to leave the hot springs; there was no telling when the Tsahiks might come looking for them--or were Ash and Ni'ka supposed to approach them again?  No sooner had Ash left the water than the realities of her world began to settle over her again, to her mind much like a hungry boa gently draping its coils over her shoulders before going for the big squeeze.  For one, and just like for every other emerging swimmer, it was quite a bit colder out of the pools than it was in them.  For another, Ash was faced with a non-choice: She could remain in her wet leather clothes or climb back into her wet Avatar ones--ahh, the chief disadvantage of changing outfits underwater!  And Ru'ni's towel-blanket wasn't much help, being already damp from drying off Ru'ni.  "Yep..." she sighed, trying to keep the blanket from slipping off her shoulders so it could shield her as she exchanged the wet outfit for the merely damp one.  "Back to my normal luck...  Phooey!"

[Kiyevanie]

Ni'ka watched Ash's face and her attempt to change clothes - lending a helping hand to keep the blanket where it was - and decided that being wet and and cold and wearing just a loincloth beat being wet and cold and trying to get back into something with more coverage.  But she still sent a longing glance back to the springs once Ash was finally back in her Avatar clothes, folding up the by now more-than-just-damp blanket and draping it over her arm.

"Well, at least we were warm for a while," she remarked as the two were making their way back to Hometree.

[Random the Navigator]

"Maybe it's time to ask someone if the ceremonial chambers are any warmer," Ash smirked.  "Yeah, I was thinking about that on the way out here--the hot spring that feeds this place comes from underground, and I'm wondering if the very lowest levels of Hometree are close enough to feel the heat...  If the Clan even lets us in there, it'd be a great place to dry off."

[Kiyevanie]

"Warmth from underground?"  Ni'ka frowned.  "It's worth it to ask," she then decided.  "Maybe it's already being used as a sleeping place for older people and young 'evi?  At least the ones who haven't left?"  She guessed it would be mostly old people staying there, the ones who'd rather stick to their home...  She shivered slightly.  "Definitely worth a try!"

[Random the Navigator]

"Great!" Ash agreed; then she looked around and her face fell.  "Only...I have no idea how to get back to the Commons from here; did that tangle of roots we threaded through get you as all-mixed-up as it got me?  'Cause I'm no tracker; I couldn't find my way out of bed if someone moved it overnight..."  She blushed.

[Kiyevanie]

Ni'ka grinned.  "You might not be able to find your way out of your hammock, but that's why you took a hunter and tracker along."  The tangle of roots might be a bit confusing, yes; but to her practiced eye it was clear to see where people had come and gone, so she started to point out a few hints to Ash.

"Look, there are footprints on the ground," she said.  "And this one," she pointed again, "even looks like they were made by your footwear."  And indeed there was a footprint that clearly was made by a hiking boot, Avatar edition.  "So that means we were coming from there and that's where we have to go back to..."

[Random the Navigator]

Ash rolled her eyes at herself.  "But of course! ...Unless there's another Dreamwalker on the premises...but the only other two I know of on the outside both go barefoot."  She smirked.  "Naah, ain't a-gonna happen.  Face it, Ash, you're just plain lost.  Geez, Ni'ka; you should have seen me at summer camp...  Lead on!"

Which Ni'ka did; and Ash had plenty of time on the twisting, winding path to be thankful that at least her shoes were still dry.

[Kiyevanie]

Now that they had spotted the way, it didn't take long until they reached the end of the small path.  Ni'ka stepped out between the last roots into the outskirts of the Commons, giving Ash space to leave the path too and looking around.  "What do you think?" she asked.  "Time to find the Tsahiks or one of their helpers?  They should be the ones to know about the ritual chambers too."

[Random the Navigator]

Ash had just opened her mouth to reply when there was a stir on the sparring grounds, accompanied by a rush of wings and a blue-and-gold flash just outside.  Ni'ka knew the bird; Ash did not...but all explained itself shortly afterwards as the senior warrior Ngatapa came striding in, weapons still in hand and grinning mightily.  He made his rounds of the practicing fighters, poking stomachs and straightening elbows as the shortcomings of his fellows dictated, and tossing off playful wisecracks at the ones still sitting on the log.

All in all, his was the best mood Ash had seen in Hometree all day, so she flagged him down: "Yoo-hoo!  Ngatapa!  We were just telling stories about you!"

"Oh, were you now!" the old warhorse shot back as he arrived.  "And do I want to know what kind?"

"Nope!" Ash said merrily.  "But we'll tell you anyway."  She grinned at Ni'ka, inviting her to go first.

[Kiyevanie]

"Uh huh!"  Ni'ka grinned too; Ngatapa's mood was catching, and she started forgetting about the fact that her queue was still wet and cold on her back.  "I've just told Ash about the improvements for the camp we have talked about - that Dreamwalker obstacle course.  You know, all those rope bridges and platforms in the trees..."  Her grin widened, getting mischieveous now.  "And of course the reason for setting it up."

[Random the Navigator]

"Ahh, yes," he replied, nodding sagely.  "Something about our one-point-five Dreamwalkers needing some exercise--and, Ash, you should have seen the look Enya gave me when I included her in that category!  Indeed, I almost took it back; I'd just as soon not have her ruin my other cheek."  He fingered the gouge-marks where a startled-awake Enya had clawed him in a panic way back when, then gave the women a wink.  "I think I could get away with it now, though," he added affectionately.  "The classification, not the startling...  Oh, wait--you weren't there for that, were you, Ash?  The startle either.  And I haven't been out there since we knew that Brenda's Dreamwalker was going to be all right...  So!  What have I missed?"

[Kiyevanie]

Ni'ka - remembering when she had last seen the old warrior - blinked.  "How much time do you have?" she asked.  "Because so much has been happening that I don't even know where to start...and each and every one of those things is as taleworthy as Toruk Makto.  For one, Rick brought in Brenda's house; she's now sharing the camp with us.  And she and I ran into Atreyu and his pongu first thing this morning; they were bringing a group of refugees to their new home."  She smirked.  "I think Tall Brenda impressed Atreyu.  She's a lot better since you last saw her, and she truly is a warrior.

"There have been good and bad things happening, and not all of those tales are mine to tell," she continued.  "It hasn't alway been easy, but..."  She shook her head and a happy smile appeared on her face.  "Then we saw Eywa kick the Red's txim, and then She came and blessed us all - even me."  The smile got even wider.  "And Enya...you sure would get along with that now, true, but I don't think one-point-five would do it anymore!"

[Random the Navigator]

"Ah!  So Brenda did heed my advice!" Ngatapa said delightedly.  "And no doubt she's been an asset.  I don't think even Atreyu could find fault with a Dreamwalker who could wake up surrounded by a pack of Nantang and have them eating out of her hand by nightfall.  And I'm sure she feels better being in the same place as her Dreamwalker, not to mention she won't be stretching your manpower resources...  Say, how is her Dreamwalker doing?  Up and about yet?  (Well, I suppose she was, if she's met Atreyu out there...)  Has she got you lot dressed properly yet?  Is she still sensitive to the light?"

Ash didn't even have to think about it before she replied, "I'd say she's been an asset!  You've been to her outpost?  Did you know she speaks to the stars?  Well, she sent word of what's happening here to her fellow Sky-scholars back on Earth.  If I don't miss my guess, there are a hell of a lot of pissed-off scientists storming the RDA's headquarters as we speak...  It cost her, though.  She didn't want anyone tracing the signal to her hideout.  So she had Rick bring just her shack...and she blew up everything else.  Her outpost would have been perfect for me and Enya to train in..."  Her eyes showed her keen regret.

Ngatapa put a hand on the Dreamwalker's shoulder.  "That's all right; we can fashion something like it at your place," he said.  "It won't be like Enya staying over at her Auntie's house, true; more like her leading you on a merry chase through the forest while the rest of us sit up on those comfy platforms and smile at you both."

He turned to Ni'ka.  "As for time...I've got all the time in the world until everyone gets back from the Talioang hunt."

Ash raised an eyebrow; she hadn't been there when Kenten had flown back with news of the big herd in the distant marshes that fed out to the sea.

"Oh, yes," the warrior smiled.  "Not all the emptiness here is because of the evacuation..."

[Kiyevanie]

"So the hunters are out there?"  Ni'ka's ears perked up, not so much because she would have liked to come along, but because that meant the food situation for the Clan would get better - no matter if the center of said Clan was here or somewhere else.  "That's good news!"  So Kenten's news had indeed given the hunters something better to think about than the situation of the Clan, and that thought lightened up her mind, as it would do with Kenten's mind once she told him about it.

She smirked.  "Oh yes, Dreamwalker Brenda is up and about," she said.  "Her eyes are still too sensitive to be out in full daylight, but she's perfectly alright in the night or twilight - we were out really early in the morning.  She's a good one to have along on a hunting trip.  Yes, she truly is an asset.  It really helps Kenten and me, and might even give Kenten a chance to get back to his pongu one day...or at least to go for a long visit, now that they're living closer to the camp than to Hometree.  He misses his friends."

[Random the Navigator]

Ngatapa nodded, his smile leaving him for a moment.  "Yes, that was a sad day when Atreyu's pongu broke up...at the time, we thought it was for good.  But he, Renu and Meuia are with those families in the village, and you and Kenten are minding our Dreamwalker friends and those who matter most to them; I suppose that's better than being scattered to the Four Winds.  All the same, it'd be good for Kenten to rejoin Atreyu's party.  His affection for your group knows no bounds; but his service to you was a sacrifice, no mistake, and even on my last visit I could tell it was weighing on him."

By now Ngatapa and Ni'ka were speaking of things which Ash hadn't known about at all.  Kenten's morale had been faltering?  Kenten, who'd refused to leave her even when she thought she was Changing, and who before that had kept her from taking her own life?  All right, she'd mostly been in the healers' ward since then, but...how had she missed that?

More and more she was coming to the conclusion that she was just not a "people person".  Somehow she always seemed to demand so much from her allies, while giving them the worst sides of her personality if she bothered acknowledging them at all.  Yes, yes...finding the crystals, saving the world, as she'd kept reminding them ad nauseam...  But when it came to relating to them as people--not "the Na'vi" in the aggregate, but as weary 'Iheyu, frustrated Tangek, heartsick Brenda, quietly selfless Kenten, overworked Tiye, and two children who'd had their worlds yanked out from under them--she'd been an abject failure.  She'd heard Kenten's peals of laughter as the love of Eywa rained down upon him; seen the radiance in his face, the way he'd turned slowly with his arms uplifted as if he were being showered with gold...and she had no idea what it meant, what dark space he'd been in when that pulse of energy found him.

"For what it's worth," she finally said, biting her lip, "Kenten was with us when the All-mother stopped by to say She hadn't forgotten about us...and he laughed like a little boy riding behind his mother for the first time.  I never asked myself what it was about, but I was happy for him..."

Ngatapa, reading the look behind the words, palmed her shoulder again gently and smiled.  "That is all he ever needed from you; all any of them need," he said gently.  "Know them.  Rejoice with them.  Mourn with them.  If they wish to share their reasons, they will; but if they do not, at least you will still have been a companion on their journeys."

[Kiyevanie]

Ni'ka couldn't help but smile at the thought of that evening.  "We were all together in that journey at that moment," she said.  "Sharing the Blessing and the tales afterwards.  As I said before, not everything has been easy, but that night it was as if all of the worries just weren't as heavy as before."  The smile widened.  "And hearing Kenten laugh like that...  You know, it was him who first reached out a hand to me in the pongu."

She slightly tilted her head, wondering if it would be bad manners to ask Ngatapa how he had felt the Blessing.  The old Olo'eyktan had told about it without being asked, and the same went for Andy.  But Ngatapa, while not being an Elder, was still one of the senior warriors, and that made his rank in the Clan a lot higher than hers.  On the other hand, this was Ngatapa, the one who had accepted her as a hunter without even flinching an ear; the one she had shared worries with - and more than one quip.

"We know that Hometree felt the Blessing too - even the Tawtute warrior you brought in," she said.  "Did it find the hunters as well?  Did it find you?" she asked hopefully.

[Random the Navigator]

"The Sky-warrior I  brought in??" Ngatapa asked mock-indignantly, putting a hand to his chest and looking miffed.  "Na, you've got the wrong troublemaker; that was Waytelem's doing, no one else's...unless you want to save some of the blame for Rick!"  He un-bristled, then shook his head with a rueful smile.  "And don't think the Clan was especially happy about it.  Enya was one thing, a helpless child; Ash was another, a Dreamwalker, but an ally; and Ni'ka and Tsanten couldn't help their looks.  But the soldier...  We had long talks about him, and some of them went in unpleasant directions.  It's just as well that the All-mother touched him, for it showed us that he'd sparked Her interest somehow...so now we're all waiting to see what She has in mind for the chap.

"As for the rest of us...there are as many stories here as there are people; where shall I begin? --Ah!  I know: How was your flight in?" he asked in a seeming non sequitur that soon explained itself.  "Smooth and easy?  Not too much flapping?  Lor not feeling like she's been flying underwater for the last half a day? --That's not your imagination; the updrafts came back this morning.  Weak ones, but true, and enough to keep our flyers aloft long enough to get decent coverage on hunting trips and patrols.  That was my bird you saw flashing by in a power-dive and ascent, joyous that the ground was warming enough to make the air his friend again.  It wouldn't feel warm to you and me...but to a son of the sky, it makes all the difference.  Stop and See this place, feel it in your bones, and tell me what other stirrings of its life-force you sense."

Ash, never having sensed any place like that before today, couldn't tell how the 'feel' of Hometree had changed from the last time she'd been here.  But Ngatapa, who could become one with a single leaf if he chose, to the point where he made no more sound treading on it than it had when it fell, had detected the merest breath of hope, of expectancy...and of relief; the great Tree, as yet untouched itself, taking stock and finding that it could still support the creatures that depended on it...even the remaining Na'vi, now that they were so much less in number.

[Kiyevanie]

When Ni'ka was done mentally smacking her forehead for mistakenly associating Ngatapa with bringing in Andy - and once she'd gotten through the resulting deep blush - her face startened to brighten.  "So it wasn't my imagination," she breathed.  "She and I thought that maybe she'd started to get used to it - Lor is no healer's mount, but she has had to carry more than one person lately, something she hasn't been used to before.  I felt that she didn't have to work as hard this morning as before - maybe her muscles are strengthening, but if the world helps too..."  She smiled in relief.  She hadn't been happy to make her companion fly with a double load without the updraft, but she as well as Lor had accepted the necessity.  Anything that helped was more than welcome.

She closed her eyes now, trying to get a feel for her surroundings, tried to See Hometree like she hadn't done before.  True, like Ash she didn't know the place from before the Red.  But somewhere, deep in her bones, there was an ancient knowledge about how a healthy, strong Hometree should feel.  Her ability to See wasn't as strong yet as Ngatapa's, simply because he was older and much more experienced.  Still she reached back to put a hand on one of the roots they had just left behind, closing her eyes, letting her hand build a connection to the root, the soil and the web that spanned all of Pandora.

The 'vibrations' of the web, that lifeforce every one of the People could feel and be part of, were still faint, as they had been before.  Not extinct, not mute, but subdued.  But today she could feel a tiny spark of hope in there, weak enough that she might have missed it if Ngatapa hadn't alerted her.  She listened to the other things her senses told her, on her skin, her ears...  Yes, the air was still cold, much colder than it should be (especially now, after having left the hot springs just a short while ago).  But wasn't it not quite as sharp and biting as it had been a few days ago?  Weren't the world and the air not quite as dreadfully silent as they had been?

Of none of those observations was Ni'ka completely sure, but she opened her eyes again to the old warrior and nodded.  "I think I can See it," she said.  "The song of the forest - it's still weak and faint, but there is something there, more than there was before."

[Random the Navigator]

Ngatapa nodded.  "Everyone's interpreted it differently.  To me, it feels like the small and tender things are at least thinking about considering putting their heads and spores and petals up for a longer look if things stay just as they are for a while, or actually doing so if things improve.  No disaster can kill off everything, not even this one.  And the creatures that don't die right away can adapt; and if they have young before the world's been put right again, why, the surviving young will never have known the weather any other way.  The highest mountains are no strangers to snow and ice, and yet the Clans there still find enough to eat and clothe themselves and sing about at their bonfires.

"Speaking of young, how are Enya and Tali doing?  Or Tsanten, the brave fellow?  Or 'Iheyu's Ikran; last time I saw her, she'd just come in from the Iknimaya rookery and was huddling atop your little log cabin...  And, Ash, I See your firstborn is doing much better...but she could still use another 'burrito'."

By now the Dreamwalker knew or suspected that by 'her firstborn', he meant Sprout.  He was the second person in the Clan who had offered her a meal this morning, which told her that her Avatar probably still looked a little peaked and out of condition.  Apparently she was going to have to feed Sprout more often until she had decent color and muscle tone again...

"I can't say about most of them," Ash replied.  "We left pretty early...  But Enya's doing much better.  She seems to have taken full possession of her body now, and her spirits are rushing to catch up!  She walks tall and straight, if still carefully; it gives her a kind of nobility...  And she swings and rides--really rides!--and climbs well enough to collect eggs if they're not too high and she's careful coming down...  And, yes, she lets us call her a Dreamwalker now; she's truly done that in a way the rest of us never have, and she's rather proud of it.  Your Toruk Makto story seems to have really helped her with that.  Even I never thought about it from the standpoint of her not being so alone...  She's still sprinkling us with little 'prophecies' too, things she recognises for what they are when they happen.  And last night...  I don't know how aware you are of the ways things just kept going wrong between her and me, but last night I think she forgave me...for all of it.  An amazing person, and I really want to get to know her for who she is, not for what all my insecurities have made of her."

[Kiyevanie]

"Enya, yes..."  Ni'ka agreed with most of what Ash had been saying.  "She's been on her way to getting more familiar with her body for a while now, but since the Blessing...  See, Enya slept through it, but that didn't mean she missed it.  It seems the Great Mother came to her in her dream and did 'pet' her.  That's what Enya says - Mother-god petted her.  And that petting, it must have healed something that had been broken before, something inside my sister."  Ni'ka's voice still spoke of the awe and the happiness she was filled with.

"Mother-god petted a whole lot of us that night," she added.  "Tsanten too...  You know how badly hurt and burnt his tswin was?"  Ni'ka didn't wait for Ngatapa to reply but instead went on.  "The burnt strands didn't come back.  But the ones that were left, that caused so much pain in healing, they're whole, strong and healthy by now."  Knowing how close she had been to that state herself, Ni'ka couldn't help her eyes getting moist.  "And that part of his chestbone all the healers were so worried about, it somehow has disappeared."  She smirked.  "He's even starting to get cocky now!  My tsmukan won't ride a Pa'li tomorrow or even the day after - but he will do so one day.

"And while we're talking about mounts - you asked about Ni'tingal too.  Yes, she was bedraggled and lost; Eywa, it broke everyone's heart seeing her like that.  But 'Iheyu said that she took off again in the night right after the blessing.  'Iheyu thinks Ni' is giving it another try - but I haven't heard anything of her since then."  Ni'ka bit her lip.  "I'm praying for her - maybe this time she will have her chicks?  Maybe they might be ones like you said, being used to the world as it is now?"

[Random the Navigator]

"Well, I did say the surviving young," Ngatapa pointed out.  "Getting that far...ahh, that's the tricky part.  The world does a fairly good job of weeding out the weak...and what isn't weak in this Changed world?  Even when things are normal, sickness, injury, foolishness and simple misfortune thin the numbers of all living things; Eywa'eveng could not hold us all otherwise.  You see how sending some of us away has eased the burden on our home somewhat.  Well, we are the People; we have other places to go.  But the fish in Ni'ka's stream or the fwampop near Brenda's place?  They must find a way right where they are.  And Ni'tingal's babies will have to find their way through their earliest lives wherever she puts them.  We can only hope she chooses wisely.  I think she might; she's already tasted the barrenness of the Iknimaya hills and not found it to her liking."

[Kiyevanie]

"I pray for them," Ni'ka repeated, replying to Ngatapa's words about the weak ones having to survive first.  Yes, she knew about the Balance, that no place carried more life than it was ready to.  Even in better times there weren't more young ones born than the land could feed - and that went for all species, including the People themselves.  "And Ni'tingal knows where to go to when she's in trouble, and she trusts 'Iheyu and Enya as well - even if she sees Enya as a very strange-looking chick."  She smirked.  "And don't anybody ask me to sort out all the family relations in that."

[Random the Navigator]

Ngatapa chuckled.  "So our little Dreamwalker says the All-mother 'petted' everyone?"  He tipped his head towards Ni'ka.  "Then that must have been the stroke of Her hand that left all those tanhi behind in its wake...  I don't think I've ever seen a lovelier night than the one you've become.  Kenten should count his blessings!"

His smile at this left Ash wondering what he knew that she and Ni'ka--and most probably Kenten!--did not; and the inherent mischief of the situation, if that's what it was, made her eyes twinkle too.  "Ni'ka...?" she asked teasingly.  "Do you have any idea what he's talking about?"

[Kiyevanie]

Ni'ka frowned in confusion, looking back and forth between the old warrior and her friend.  "Um, huh?" was her not very intelligent reply about Ash teasing her.  "No, I have not.  Yes, some of my tanhi came back the night of the Blessing..." Said tanhi were now glowing slightly about Ngatapa's compliment.  "But what does that have to do with Kenten?"