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[Random the Navigator]

"He won't have far to go," Molly said about her Riti.  "In fact, he's probably sitting on the nearest pitcher plant, either drinking nectar or snapping up the insects.  I don't think we'll be seeing much of him until he's refueled and had a nap."

She regarded the pilot.  "As for 'closer to home'," she continued, "I didn't exactly hike halfway 'round the world to get here.  I think we can get you the rest of the way to that shack if your legs'll let you.  I'd kinda like to see you somewhere you can eat real food and breathe."

[Kiyevanie]

"Totally agree!" Trudy had finished her breakfast drink by now and stowed the empty package back into her backpack, wincing a bit. "That stuff here fills the belly and got the nutrients I need, but let's not talk about the taste..." She got up again, cautiously checking on her ribcage, where she seemed to have at least a major bruise, if not a few broken ribs. "But of course we'll wait for Squeegee first. Guy has done his share of searching for people, he shouldn't have to do it again."

[Random the Navigator]

"Ut-tut-tut!!" Molly scolded in a 'Not so fast!' tone, cupping her hands over Trudy's shoulders to make getting back up all but impossible unless you liked pain.  "First we need to tend your boo-boos," she said firmly.  "I did a little gathering while you were out.  And while I'm not a medic, I do know what to do about burns and scrapes and stuff.  And since night watch is bo-rinnnngg unless something goes wrong, I spent most of it grinding and pounding and mixing things for you.  See my stick?"  She flipped a hand at the blunt end, which was now covered in something shiny and sticky and berry-smelling.  "If you haven't died from touching that yet, you never will and it'll help you."  She emitted a rather ferocious grin.

She only waited a little bit for Trudy to boggle or sputter or whatever else the pilot had in her.  After that she was all about playing Toktor, with Granma Camille for a role model, so she wasn't exactly asking her client's consent either.  She busied herself with the pastes and powders she'd made, painting Trudy here and dusting her there and sealing some of her deeper gashes with the berry-smelling stuff.  "Can't help you with the broken things," she commented; "my pack won't hold enough to bind you with.  So you just do what you've been doing - moving carefully.  And, come to think of it, I think we should switch backpacks; yours looks stiffer and heavier, so maybe it shouldn't be sitting on that cracked collarbone. --Okay, deep breath..."

She lifted Trudy's respirator enough to get some of the balm she'd made onto the pilot's face-burns, then eased the mask back into place and ran a blue finger along the seal.  "Just kidding about the touch-and-die part; I wouldn't do that to you," she smiled.

[Kiyevanie]

Trudy was far from sputtering or boggling; actually when she had gotten up the first time her body had reminded her sternly of the abuse it had been through. So instead of protesting she sat down again, letting Molly do her work. Everything the pilot had seen so far from the young girl was that she knew her way around - so she trusted. "I think", she commented sometime in between, "you'll make an awesome toktor one day - you got the right attitude, taking no nonsense from your patients."
In the end Trudy was rewarded by the paste having a cooling effect on her burns, at least after the initial sting was over. And when Molly put some of the paste on her face she closed her eyes for a moment, let out the breath she'd been holding - and then took the chance to sniff at what Molly had put on her face.

"It smells... green", she stated, slightly hesitating. "Plants, but no idea of the rest. I think I like it, beats the stale filtered air by lightyears." She gave Molly a crooked grin. "That's actually the closest I've ever been to actually smell this planet, ya know? And it feels good on those burns." She shook her head about the idea of bandaging up her ribs or collarbone. "I think it's gonna have to do without bandaging for now, I'll just have indeed to move very carefully. But I can literally guarantee that I'll do - still hurts like a bitch if I move the wrong way." She eyed her backpack again. "I know, that backpack ain't the most comfy thing in the world - when they built the thing they were going for sturdiness and that it had to fit under the pilot seat. Comfort wasn't on top of the list." She smirked at the staff. "And I didn't think you'd do. Make a touch-and-die experiment I mean."

[Random the Navigator]

"Actually, I was thinking about it before you woke up..." Molly mused.  "Maybe I don't want to be a healer.  Maybe I want to be a pilot!  Like you!  Fly a Samson around, if there still are any!  Or maybe something lighter, more maneuverable, more open...a little plane, maybe?  Then - remember we were talking last night about me having a treehouse and bringing my friends there to play?  I never did answer about that, but that'd be one way to do it.  And I'm pretty good at fixing things, even things that aren't hurt animals..."  She continued along that line of thought for a bit, as "into" being a pilot this morning as she'd been "into" being a veterinarian yesterday.  She was thirteen and still trying to make up for ages five through ten, her "lost years"; it was all right for her to change her mind on a moment's notice about what she wanted to be when she grew up.  "...And anyway, I'm still too scared to go up to an Ikran," she confessed, squirming comically where she sat.

Once Trudy's hurts had been tended to, however, she turned her mind back to being helpful.  "So you want planet-smells, do ya?  I could dab little samples of things inside your mask like just now; I have berries and balsams, a couple lumps of tree sap, a little clay, some moss, some grasses, some wax...  None of it will kill you to breathe.  If you like that idea, just let me know when the scent of that paste wears off!"

She helped Trudy up, wriggled into the pilot's crash kit, then draped her gathering-pouch over the woman's good shoulder.  "Ready when you are," she chirped.

[Kiyevanie]

Trudy adjusted the gathering bag on her shoulder a bit, checking for her balance and gripped Molly's staff for stability. "Ready too, I guess", she said. "Although I almost regret leaving this place. I like it. Maybe I'll come back one day." She paused, thinking. "Ya know, you still have a lot of time to decide what you wanna do with your life and nobody says your decision is gonna be forever. I still hope we do have a chopper back at the 'Gate and of course I'm biased when it comes to being a pilot... Maybe we'll have to build new ones anyway with whatever's left behind and can make a Na'vi sized cockpit. I wouldn't rule out the Ikran if I was you though. They're fierce beasts, but from what I know they're worth the whole effort."

She pointed her thumb back to where somewhere in the jungle her own Samson now was a heap of smoldering metal. "I loved my bird really - but you won't get close to anything living with a trace of self-esteem on this world in it. Me, I like me the smell of motor oil and grease, of course it stinks, but it feels like home. Pandora's wildlife? Not so much. Did you ever hear about Jake's first trip to the forest and how he ended up with the Omaticaya? Got lost on his very first trip as a driver... ran into a Thanator and when he somehow got to escape that one he later ran into a pack of Viperwolves who would have had him for dinner if Neytiri hadn't shown up and saved his ass. Me?" Trudy shrugged. "Haven't seen even the tip of a tail when out with my Samson and waiting for the scientists to come back - they neither like the scent nor the noise. The only ones brave enough to at least get a good look at my bird were the Ikran up in the Hallelujah mountains - and once or twice a flock of Ikranay in the forest."

"And I'll take you up on your offer", she added with a smile. "Yup, I just said that I like the smell of motor oil, but that's for the sake of what it means - your paste makes a very nice change. I'm curious about what usually escapes me with that thing on my face."

[Random the Navigator]

Molly nodded.  "Oh, we're definitely coming back here," she said.  "I like it too.  This can be our secret spot.  We can meet here for whatever, or come either alone or together when we just need to be away from people for a while...  I've never seen so many Na'vi in my life, and sometimes it feels like they're all counting fingers."  She wriggled hers to indicate why that might be a subject of interest to her hosts.  "And you...  You just might be the first person to set up in that shack since Jake left it.  Meaning there'll be eyeballs on you, too, and not friendly ones until I explain!  Really help if Jake was there; he knows you...  Or Neytiri; or Mo'at...but they're both kinda busy ladies, and their blood is still up and they're doing a bunch of sacred stuff and none of us kids dares go near them.  Or - hey!  I wonder if the Omaticaya who did your face-paint is there?  Do you remember who it was?  A man, a woman, a boy or a girl?  That one will know you by sight, sound and feel."

Her earnest expression dissipated when she heard Jake's story and doubled up laughing.  "He what?? --Geez, even I  wasn't that dumb!!  Lesson One: Stay with the group.  Lesson Two: Don't try to outrun things that are faster than you!!"

Then her thoughts turned to the aftermath of the War.  "Look...I know how these things go now.  They make a big mess and leave a lot of holes.  Maybe there's nothing at all left of anything human 'cept you and a little of me.  And Jake, but he's weird...  And that shack, which is pretty messed-up, so I hope at least one of us has the energy to mend the windows when we get there or you'll be spending another night in that mask.

"But the 'Gate? --Somebody said that the Avatars rose up in revolt and smashed a few things, so maybe most of the drivers made it too...  At least that's what I hope.  And maybe once you're set up all comfy I can start asking people things...and, oh yeah, teach Squeegee to 'home' on the Well of Souls."

[Kiyevanie]

Trudy grinned widely. "Oh yes, he did!", she said. "You wouldn't think it if you saw the guy in all this glorious outfit now, but at first... well, I think Neytiri had her hands full with her student those first days. But I have to give it to Jake, he might be weird, but he's a fast learner..."

She shook her head. "But I think for now the most important thing really is to get to that shack." She flinched when Molly mentioned the state of their destination. "Pretty messed up? Ugh... well, there should be a repair kit somewhere. These things are supposed to be out in rough terrain and self-sustained more or less. We might be able to seal one or two broken windows or even a gash in the hull. The only thing that should work is the generator cause that's what keeps the life support and the air condition up. And even for that one there are spare parts somewhere and I know my way around those generators - part of the job description. Might take a few days, but I hope I'll get the thing running if it isn't completely ruined." She scratched her head. "And if I don't get run off... that's true. I can imagine that humans ain't the most popular species currently and I don't have a sign on me that says 'I'm one of the good guys'. But I remember who painted my face - one of the younger healers, she sometimes helps out with Mo'at. Name's Ma..., nope, Me.. Mear or something like that." 

[Random the Navigator]

"M-Meari??" Molly blurted; she hardly knew anyone from outside her Clan, but she'd met Meari - or, more accurately, Meari had come looking for her.  "Oh, scheiss - that's right, she said she wanted to show me something!!  Said I might know something about it, maybe even know what to do...  Probably Sky People stuff; for some reason, people think I can use most of it and explain it all.  But yeah.  I was supposed to go with her to the Tree last night, and I was here instead, and I've never been to the Tree all by myself, and once I show up with you I don't think anyone else is gonna offer to take me...  Crap."

[Kiyevanie]

"Meari, that's it!" Trudy nodded when Molly said the name, then made a frace. "Crap indeed... well, let's just hope that whatever she wanted to show you didn't disappear in the meantime." She thought about it some more - the Tree, yes... by now Trudy knew pretty well how important the Sacred Tree was for the Na'vi, for Eywa, for the whole damn moon they were sitting on. And how much it had to mean to Molly to really get close to it. "I'm sorry you missed that", she said. "And I don't want this chance to get away from you - you've saved my life out there, cause I think I wouldn't have made it on my own, was just to stubborn to give up, but that shouldn't ruin your chance of a visit to that Tree."

She frowned. "You think it helps if you drop me off at the shack first and then go and talk to your parents and then Meari or whoever else might know me? Waltzing in with an injured human in tow might indeed rais a few eyestripes."

****Back at the Well of Souls****

Slowly, very slowly things calmed down a bit in the healer's area at the Well of Souls. The critical cases were either on their long way to getting better, had given their spirit to Eywa and some were on their journey to the Tompa'tanhi to see if the healers there could do something for them. Some of the more lucky ones had already left the area and now were in the care of their families. So, while still none of the healers had something even remotely close to boredom, the frantic activity of the last days had slowed down to normal busy activity and some of the healers even realized that they might have the chance to catch up on their missing sleep.

Meari used the chance to check more often the sleeping Dreamwalker in the niche. She didn't know why, but somehow she had made Grace her very own special patient, the one case that touched her spirit even more than patients usually did.
And then she had met Molly, the young Dreamwalker girl. Of course Molly's case was very different from Grace's. Where the Toktor's tawtute spirit had gone to Eywa Molly's spirit somehow had ended up being part of what made the girl now. But there also was the fact that they both were Dreamwalkers who didn't have a tawtute sharing their body, they were on their own. What you saw was all there was to see and See. And maybe, just maybe, Molly knew anything that might help Grace to somehow... Meari didn't know exactly what Molly could even help with, but she was a healer by heart and would take any straw if it might help one of her patients.
And if it just was something that might feel the resting Dreamwalker more comfortable in the dream she now shared with the Tree and Eywa.

[Random the Navigator]

"You want to know the truth?" Molly asked as they set off.  "I'm kinda scared to go down there.  It's, what, the holiest place in the world?  Which makes it the Na'vi-est place in the world; for all I know, they could've emerged from the ground there.  What's a Dreamwalker doing in a place like that??  I wouldn't have dared if Sempu and Sa'nok hadn't brought me...  Yes, Jake spoke to the All-mother there.  But maybe that was different, because She'd chosen him?  I feel like I don't belong, like I've got no business there, like I'm listening in on the grownups.  And there are so many people!  Don't think I've ever seen so many in one spot, and I don't know if they like me being there, and I've only got my parents to speak for me...  And let's face it - I'm part-Skyfolk.  A cat can raise a puppy, but he's still gonna grow up to be a dog."

[Kiyevanie]

Trudy let that sink in for a moment, focusing on getting her body to walk; while she was far, far away from being her usual self it was a bit easier than yesterday, the rest and some food as well as Molly's treatment had dulled some of her numerous pains and aches. And not having to carry the heavy and not exactly ergonomically shaped emergency kit helped too.

"Dunno", she finally said. "I've learned more about Na'vi culture in the last three months than in all the years before, and I'm anything else than an expert. In a way I felt something like this when we were preparing for the war. They knew I was on their side, but I still was human, Skyfolk as you say." She gave Molly a half-grin. "Listening in on the adults - that's a good way to put it, even when my knowledge about choppers and how to take 'em out was needed. Still think it's different for you - you're not a puppy raised by a cat. More like a puppy who has a house breed dad and a wolf mom - and your mom's pack raised you. Your paws might look different, but you can run with the best of 'em." She had been too dazed yesterday to take in much, but everything she had seen from Molly so far showed that the girl might be part skyfolk, but her wild, native side was strong.

[Random the Navigator]

Remembering certain old stories, Molly Hmph'd.  "Ah, the Child Raised by Wolves," she responded.  "Maybe a little like that, yes.  And there's no returning me to the village, so guess what that makes me? --A wild Avatarrr!!!"  And just for good measure and out of lifted spirits, she leapt up into the nearest tree and cruised the branches for a few yards; vaulted to the next tree over as if she weren't wearing a pilot's survival kit; crouched low on her new perch, and bared her fangs at the whole stinkin' world.  Trudy had been asleep last time; she'd never actually seen Molly in Primal Mode.

The young Avatar descended, touching down lightly.  "Seven out of ten points! ...It goes better when I'm barefoot," she grinned.

[Kiyevanie]

"Whoah... looks like your dad was half-wolf too!" Trudy was impressed of Molly's display. That much for her thinking she had seen some of the girl's 'wild side'! "Ya know, what you said sounded like the title of a movie, but I was thinking of something I've read back on Earth somewhere. People tried to breed house pups with wild wolves - and then were surprised that they actually got the wild outta it." She rolled her eyes. "Some people are just stupid..." Then she grinned. "But I'd say - you might have less to fear than you think. As long as you take off your shoes and get a ten out of ten."

[Random the Navigator]

"And get out of these clothes!!" Molly griped.  "Dumbest thing I did all day, deciding to wear these when I'm already feeling like a weirdo...  Only reason I'm not hissing at myself right now is because if I dressed like usual I'd've probably scared you worse! --C'mon..."

  *****