Teachings at the Graveyard

[Txe'lan]

At least the two of them were making progress. Txe'lan and Katelyn had agreed to meet and teach each other at the Tree of Souls, a place where Txe'lan could readily access the memories of his ancestors, thus he would learn much quicker. In a way Txe'lan was actually kind of glad that the last Toruk Makto knew English, not just how to speak it but also how to write it. Even though Txe'lan would have to learn it and do it many times, he would still take less time to learn it, which would probably be a lot easier on Katelyn. The faster Txe'lan learned to read and write English, the faster he'd be able to teach Katelyn to speak the language of the Na'vi. It was all about time well spent...

Then there was the matter of when they should meet. Considering that the Tree of Souls was quite a ways from the Sky People's dwelling, it would take forever for Katelyn to make the trip on foot. This meant he would have to bring his Ikran around and get her to ride double with him. Since Txe'lan's Ikran was very well-natured it wouldn't matter who was riding double with him as long as it was Txe'lan who was giving the orders and flying. They would probably have to meet in the evening so that they'd have time to get there, but that wouldn't be too much of a problem as long as Katelyn didn't have her metal suit. A simple pressurized Exopack would probably do the trick, and Txe'lan would provide the food for the trip.

"At sundown, I pick up you on Ikran. No trouble; we fly to Utral Tirea. Back before sunrise."

Txe'lan reached for one of the reeds in his vambrace, sliding it over to Katelyn. This was not only a musical instrument, but it was also a method of communication. If Txe'lan could play it whilst wearing a mask, then Katelyn could definitely learn to play it. It was almost like the Pandoran version of an Earth flute or recorder, so it was pretty easy to pick up.

"Syaw fa pamesto, yol pam notes; like this-"

Txe'lan brought his reed up to the exhaust port on his mask, trying to funnel the wind into the reed whilst his hand was held in the C sharp position, getting a brilliant sound out of the reed as he did so. He then moved to the A position, moving down an octave to get a much more soothing sound out of it. He wanted Katelyn to learn this so she could call him when he was in flight on his Ikran. Txe'lan would be able to hear her when she played the reed, and then he would know where to go to pick her up.

((Translation: "Call with music, long sound notes; like this."))

[Katelyn Zilar]

It always seemed that whenever things looked a little bleek on the situations that the two were having while they were discussing about their schooling schedules and areas of learning, though Txe'lan always seemed to bring their hopes up by brining in something that could help them out with their teachings no matter what the problem was, and they always got Katelyn to feel a good energy rush go right through the nerves in her spinal cord. This one just brought up a bigger jolt when she heard that they have the chance of riding an Ikran.

Now Katelyn had known what an Ikran was of course, though they had called them the Banshee from old logs that she had snatched from the Base before anyone else could get to them. They were magnefisent beasts no doubt judging from the pictures she had of them, and of course the skeletal frame that she had brought into her little observation room. She had always wanted to see one live and up close, though she could never get the chance to, for it would be risky climbing up to their nests, which of course Na'vi tended to go there for some reason to probably pick up their Ikran from the rocks or something.

But now she was going to be able to see the actual living and breathing beast itself, which could even help when making the Prototype Banshee she had been making for the Bondless Avatars, then she would have to make those Direhorse creatures which was going to be a bit easier as they had the same structure of their own horses back on Earth, but she was getting ahead of herself right now.

The next thing was when they could tell one another when and where they were when they were rady to get going, but yet again, this Na'vi had the answers flowing through him, as it would be expecting for this planet. But what he showed was a little bit unusual to her, it seemed almost like a instrument of some sort, yet it was a plant that strangely enough was shaped like an ear of a cat in such a way. And she was right that it was an instrument, for Txe'lan had managed to play it in such a way that it made a glorious tune.

Katelyn had turned down the music coming from her stereo so she could have a better listen of the notes that he had been playing on the odd plant, and watched the movements of the Na'vi's fingers as he played to get an understanding of what to do. So she picked her up, and put it over her lips, but this thing was quite big for her compared to the size for the Na'vi, and it had to cause her to put around two or three fingers in the position where Txe'lan had put his, and began blowing into it. It sounded almost the same as how Txe'lan had played it, though hers was just a little bit slopier than his because of the effort she had to put in compared to what the Na'vi had to do.

When she was done, she lightly took it off of her lips off of it, and merely examined it while she gave a grin towards it, it was a very interesting and quite a funny little plant to do that, but then again, there were some plants if done just right could play music of their own.

"Heh... Nice"

She said outloud as she put it onto the table once more and examined it still as it just sat there on the metal. This would be a good way to try and get one another to come in contact, especially when they knew when their meeting time was meant to be given out for the both of them, and they had to make contact with one another. Even if her music had sucked badly when she tired to play it, at least it would not be hard to miss for him to hear.

[Txe'lan]

Hearing Katelyn attempt to play the reed gave Txe'lan mixed reactions, on the outside he enjoyed watching her first attempt at it, but on the inside Txe'lan was sort of repulsed by the sound she made. Na'vi never had any trouble playing the Cat Ear reed, and to hear something so coarse-sounding come from it meant that she would need quite a bit of practice. He didn't doubt that she would be able to get the hang of it, but there was no shortcuts when it came to music unless someone was born with the innate ability to discern rhythm (for drum beats), melody (for brighter notes), and harmony (for those that wished to play together). Perhaps this was something Txe'lan could teach her as well as the Na'vi language, but the language was first on their list of priorities.

"Pam siltsan, im fmi ni'ul." Txe'lan said, indicating that Katelyn needed to practice more on her musical calling. The more clearly Txe'lan could hear her play those notes, the better he would be at discerning who it was that was calling him with the reed. Some Na'vi had their own reed notes for calling, and those specific ones, when played clearly, would let Txe'lan know that Katelyn was calling for him.

Satisfied that Katelyn got the call notes down (and hoping that she would practice them), Txe'lan slipped his own Cat Ear reed back into his vambrace, wondering what to do next. Now that they had the time to meet established, they would have to establish a place to meet so that Txe'lan could pick her up when he came in on his Ikran. It wouldn't be too difficult to fly when there was little light out, or what was left of it as the sun was setting, and since the Tree of Souls gave off the most brilliant light at night flying there on an Ikran would be no trouble at all.

"Find place to meet?"

Txe'lan rose from his makeshift seat, having to duck a little to compensate for his tall figure in this place built for the height of the Sky People, ready to leave; there was just one or two little problems, one being he didn't know how to work the doors to this place, and two he would need Katelyn to come with him to establish a place to meet. Somewhere close by wouldn't be too hard; the previous Sky People left many marks on the land that Eywa has yet to mend, so she wouldn't be too hard to find if they chose a place near where they were at now.

((Translation: "Sound good, just try more."))

[Katelyn Zilar]

Katelyn made a little smirk when Txe'lan told her that she needed practice, and se knew that so darn well just by the first note that blew through the reed. But she had to try harder than that of what a Na'vi was able to do because she was smaller than the the other species that were probably skilled with this faster than what a human could, though she wasn't going to give it up just because she because it was a little bit harder for her since she was smaller than the other species that live on Pandora. That was the thing that always tended to get her going, just because you had less of an advantage then some others didn't mean you couldn't do anything, you just had to push yourself harder was just it. That was all Katelyn had to do for herself, she just needed the patience and will to practice was merely all, and that was what she was going to do.

Then yet another question had came into mind for the both of them, which was regarding on where they would be meeting at, an that was going to be the last important thing for them. Now, Katelyn had no problem with him coming over to the main gateway for Txe'lan to pick her up, but that could be a bit more riskier for him with any sort of scouts watching around the area of Olympus, so they couldn't pick that place. However, there was a place where the humans would not be searching around so much, and it was quite close to where Olympus had crashed, which was of course where she had made her studies and work of operation.

She quickly enough got out of her seat to follow Txe'lan's side, making her steps a bit faster than normal to make sure she was at the same pace as he was when he had gotten to the door, grabbing a oxygen mask as she had been entering the code for the doors to automatically open wide for the two, and allowing access into the room. It was there, like before, the oxygen was being sucked right out of it, and replacing it with the air on Pandora, which caused her to put on her mask.

"You can take off your mask now, if you want that is."

She said through the filter of her mask, and the doors to the outside world opened up once more for them, then she began to walk out of the protection of the doorways to lead Txe'lan to where they were to meet. it wasn't too far really, it was pretty much a fifteen minute walk from Olympus, and it was to where one of the engines had broken off before impact of the whole structure, and had created a large crater with parts of the engine spilt everywhere. It was a mess indeed, which was why it would give Txe'lan an advantage to try and find her when it was needed to.

"So... here I'll wait for you."

She said as she turned to the side and looked back up at Txe'lan to inform him that this would be her meeting place when it came to sundown for the two to be going to this 'Utral Tirea', and she was excited to be going to this, whatever it was even.

[Txe'lan]

Ah, the sweet outdoors! There was nothing like being outside of that metal construct. Not only could Txe'lan remove his mask and breathe in the fresh Pandoran air, but now he could smell and hear himself normally, just like he was used to. After that experience, he was glad to be one of the Na'vi. Enjoying life was so much more... well, enjoyable when it wasn't trying to kill you just by breathing. Sometimes Txe'lan pitied the Sky People for having to wear those masks just to stay alive. They really didn't know what they were missing aside from what they could see.

Once Txe'lan's mask was off, he hung it back on its appropriate rack, letting the fresh Pandoran air envelop his body and his lungs, feeling like he was rejuvenated. He then followed Katelyn a short distance to a place where some kind of destructive device had collided with the ground. This was something that would take Eywa decades to fix, and nature had a very difficult time trying to reclaim what was refined of her soil and stone. At least this place was easy to pick out from the sky; any vegetation around this place was practically obliterated from the looks of it; there was nothing but stobs left aside from the crater the metal parts formed.

"Siltsan, Katelyn; perfect place."

Just so Txe'lan could mark the place so it would be familiar to him and Katelyn, he drew one arrow from his bow gripping, sinking the head into the dirt underneath him and topped the back notch of the arrow with a Cat Ear reed so that it would serve as a marker. This would be their pick-up point, and the next time Katelyn saw Txe'lan, he would be swooping in low on nothing other than an Ikran, something she was eager to see by the way she reacted to the word. This would be a real treat for her when the next day passed.

"Oe zene ka, Katelyn; Oe ayz'au at sundown."

With that, Txe'lan ran off into the forest, heading back to Home Tree. He knew these forests, not using the path that Katelyn had made back to the metal structure. No, he would return alone to Home Tree, ready to rest up for the next day and night for when he would come back to take Katelyn to the Tree of Souls.

((Translation:
1. "Good, Katelyn; perfect place."
2. "I must go, Katelyn; I will come at sundown."))

[Katelyn Zilar]

It seemed that Txe`lan had been satisfied with the place that she had found for their little pick-up point from hearing his words, and had made a little marker into the ground which was probably to help him remember where he had to pick her up. What? This wasn`t a big enough of a marker for him to see? Then again, there were probably still giant craters of busted shuttle parts littering all over the place as it was, and he must have had good vision if he was able to see this stick and cat ear alone flying a few hundred feet high.

Though just as quick as they had met, Tswayon had ran off into the jungle once more after re-assuring their plans of meeting one another. She just smiled at the direction where Txe'lan had ran off to, though she had let out yet another yawn, not covering it since that mask had done that itself, and began to walk off towards Olympus once more, she would be needing the rest for the next night, meaning she probably couldn't work very much on her prototypes tomorrow, too bad for her.

----------------------------------------------NEXT DAY----------------------------------------------

Katelyn had been worrying and fixing everything including herself up for a lot of hours today it seemed. She had been gathering books and papers up so they could practice their words with one another, thought it would most likely be just Txe'lan that will be learning most of this stuff today than her. Though either way, she had to be prepared for what they had to be ready for when it came to eduating one another. Taking another gulp out of her coffee, she had been getting her own little dinner set-up for herself incase if Txeèlan had already eaten or was bringing food which she could not eat, plus she didn't want to look that she was completely useless with everything.

It was close to sundown by now, and it seemed that she had everything all settled when it came to both and her own needs for tonight, and she was glad about it. Zipping her back-pack up, she had flung it onto her back and had grabbed her Cat-ear to call upon Txe'lan in case if didn't remember where the two were meeting at. Quickly she had ran to the door to enter her code as she picked up her mask and put it on her face while the oxygen was being sucked out, and the Pandora air flowed inside with the doors to the outside world opening up for her.

She of course had ran outside before the doors had even fully opened up for her to get over to her little spot quickly. It only took her several minutes for her to get there, and only took a few deep breaths to relax her heart once more for her, and had sat down on a piece of metallic ruble so she could let her legs cool down for a bit, though she could go much more longer when it came to running great distances for her. After taking her little rest, she had taken the cat ear reed that was in her pocket, and began blowing the signal tune through her filter. Once more, it sounded a bit sloppy, but at least it sounded a bit better than last night of course.

[Txe'lan]

The day had gone by quickly. Txe'lan had chosen not to sleep in the hammocks, but rather in his study at Home Tree, sleeping all through the day since there was no injuries or other such things that required his attention; the weather was dull anyways. To the least bit curious about Txe'lan's habits, he said he was up all night trying to formulate a new energy-boosting elixir, and it seemed to be working as an effective cover story, so much that no other Na'vi seemed to be bothering him. Now that his home base was covered, there was the matter of meeting Katelyn at their designated meeting place.

Once it got close to sundown, Txe'lan headed up to the Ikran nest, finding the azure Ikran named Vrrtep'taw (meaning Demon Sky) perched on his favorite branch; he was such a good-natured Ikran, and Txe'lan knew he would never have a problem getting near Sky People and with a little incentive from Txe'lan Vrrtep'taw would allow a Sky Person to ride double. Without needing to explain, Txe'lan made the bond and mounted his Ikran, donning the specialized monocole (something like this) so his good eye would be protected in-flight. Then they took off into the skies, headed towards the designated meeting place.

Txe'lan kept his ears out for Katelyn, listening for the reed notes he taught her. And sure enough, the sloppy high C and the rough low A could be heard close to the metal structure of the Sky People, letting Txe'lan know he was close. Once he finally found the marked spot, Txe'lan swooped in low, slowing Vrrtep'taw down so that he could flap his way into a safe landing spot. Txe'lan could see Katelyn there, waiting for him. Now was the time to see if she had the stomach for flight on the back of an Ikran.

"Kaltxi Katelyn. Fi'u lu te pa Vrrtep'taw, oe-ya Ikran." Txe'lan said to Katelyn, running his hand along the back of his Ikran's neck. Vrrtep'taw had a brilliantly sharp azure color with stripes of blue and purple; a truly magnificent beast of the sky, hence its name in the Na'vi language: Demon Sky.

Txe'lan dismounted to give Vrrtep'taw a treat to calm him down. He wasn't used to the Sky People, but he would soon get the idea.

((Translation: "Hello Katelyn. This is Vrrtep'taw, my banshee."))

[Katelyn Zilar]

It happen a few minutes that had passed on for Katelyn as she sat on top of a fallen log, just watinging for Txe'lan to come over to get her, and she was getting impaitent as she swung her legs a little bit forwards. She was not one to wait for long periods of time, except if it was fo guard duties when fighting for the army of course, but if it was waiting for someone to pick her up, especially if it was a guy no matter what species they were, it just got to her for some reason or another. Maybe it was because of her old dates with some of them being an hour late, or just forgetting about picking her up in the first place.

Maybe there was the chance that Txe'lan had just completely forgot her here, or didn't remember that he was to pick her up? No, that couldn't be it at all. They had spent a good length of time with one another last night discussing about their plans for this exact night! She had to be patient, she had to just wait for him to come for her, she just had to have faith in this Na'vi. Even if she didn't know Txe'lan that well, she saw him as quite a nice guy for an alien cat-man, and he seemed like those people to simply trust.

It seemed that her feelings had seemed to become the best for her, for as she had been watching the skies for any signs of movement up there, it seemed that she could spot some sort of giant bird had been flying over, but she knew it was much more than that. She knew that structure, she could tell what it was just by the mere shadow and size that this was no ordinary flying creature.... This was an actual Banshee. And if there was a Banshee, then there had to be Txe'lan.

She backed off quite a distance to allow him to have a more proper and safer landing when he came down to pick her up. The more that Txe'lan and the Banshee had began to land however, the more Katelyn's mind had began to become even more fasinated with this flying, lizard creature. He was just an incredible creature, Txe'lan's Banshee, all the colors and the design of him was just a master piece in the line of creation, it was just a beatutiful artwork brought to life.

Though it wasn't the time to be dumbstruck by the beauty of the animals of Pandora, this was about him and her learning together at the Utral Tirea place, whatever the heck it was even, but they were going to find out in the first place. Slowly she had began to walk up towards the Na'vi with a light smile upon her face as she had been looking up at him, and had stopped in front of him. That was when she had remembered how tall the Na'vi were compared to the humans, and she was was pretty tall compared to other people, it made her feel short compared to Txe'lan.

"Kaltxì nìmun Txe'lan, Nice Ikran."

She complimented as her eyes had moved over to the Banshee once more, but not directly into the eye since it could cause some sort of threat towards the Banshee and causing some bad accidents to occur. She knew her animal species quite well from planet Earth, and it was wise not to look most animals in the eye directly, especially the ones you did not know about very well, which was why she kept a distance between herself and the lizard beast, that was until when they needed to get onto it in order to get to where they were studying, Txe'lan was going to get on first of course.

[Txe'lan]

"Irayo. Lu nga alaksi?"

Txe'lan was ready to mount Vrrtep'taw and take off towards the Tree of Souls, seeing as the sun was just about ready to hit the canopy and sink beneath the trees to make way for the night. The less time they spent admiring Txe'lan's Ikran, the sooner they could accomplish their goal, and that was something Txe'lan was looking forward to. The day he could read, write, and send letters to Katelyn would be the day he could say he learned the language of the Sky People, and it would mean he wouldn't have to always see her in person just to communicate with her. Txe'lan could practically drool over the thought, of having accomplished something that no Na'vi had dared to do for many, many decades.

He had to admit it though; Katelyn was definitely a Sky Person that was truly something else. Whether she was too curious, and possibly too trusting, was something he could only speculate on, but it was still a looming suspicion. This could very well get the both of them in trouble with their own kind as well as the other's kind, so Txe'lan was still wary of anyone that might be following him or Katelyn, keeping his good eye open just in case he suspected that there was something foul afoot. After all, even if he had good relations with Katelyn, it was still a fairly strained relationship. The two of them were worlds apart, and they both had obligations that were probably bound to keep them apart until at least one side of the Pandoran inhabitants saw the light.

Back in the moment, Txe'lan grabbed a strange-looking grub out of his satchel, handing it to Vrrtep'taw to inspect and then happily accept into his maw, gulping it down while not forgetting to savor the flavor. He then gave a nod of approval, Vrrtep looking Katelyn over and returning the nod to understand what Txe'lan wanted. The Ikran would be just fine having the Sky Person ride double as long as Txe'lan was the lead rider.

Soon after Vrrtep'taw was calm, Txe'lan got back on the Ikran's saddle, getting himself situated as to allow Katelyn some room. He'd taken the time to make a few modifications as to allow Katelyn a couple choices for handholds: she could grab onto his bow (which was slung firmly across his back), or she could strap herself to Txe'lan's back and do it the old-fashioned way of hanging onto his waist. For footholds Txe'lan added an extension to his own footholds, giving her a perfectly-sized pair of saddles to rest her feet on. There was no sitting down while riding on an Ikran; it was all in the bent knees so that the rider's rear end wouldn't be super sore once the ride was over.

"Z'au, Katelyn; krr ne tswayon," said Txe'lan, holding out his hand for Katelyn to hop aboard. This wouldn't be long once she got situated; then the both of them could start flying on Vrrtep'taw towards the Tree of Souls.

((Translation:
1. "Thanks. Are you ready?"
2. "Come, Katelyn, time to fly."))

[Katelyn Zilar]

All that Katelyn did for a reply to Txe'lan was a short nod with her head and moved her back a little to the side so she could show him her back-pack while the little gadgets and little add-ons just clinked around with the zippers and whatever was on the rest of the bag on the outside, though it was the stuff that was inside of the bag was all that mattered. It was filled with everything that they needed for the night-out tonight, and it was a load of stuff to be carrying, it was like being in a high school all over again with the pencils and papers. But she didn't mind the pressure on her spine, since she had to carry much bigger loads of whatever on her back when she had been in the military. She tended to be the carrier for other's supplies when she first started since she was one of the newer recruits in the group, though it got her to become stronger in time whenever she had those duties. She just hoped that this lizard-bird could take the load as well.

When she had waited for Txe'lan to mount onto his Banshee, he had stretched out one of his hands to help her up onto his animal. She of course had accepted the offer from him, and managed to grip his hand with her left, and his arm with her right to have a stable and secure grip onto him, but like she could get a good grip on his arm. It was around twice, if not, three times her own arm size, and the muscle structure on him was powerful just by the feel through her gloves causing the the grip of her hand on his arm to slip a little bit, though she managed to get her self onto the Banshee after sitting in the saddle. She had been in positions like this before when she had been riding things, from it being one of the horses that were needed to be taken care of at her mother's vet office, to screwing around on her old hover-bike, so this wasn't new.

Neither were the oppertunities of hanging onto what she could while she had been riding with Txe'lan. She had ridden with a few guys before she had came here onto Pandora, and it was always the same way she had been holding on to keep her on the vehicle. She just slowly moved her arms across the Na'vi's sides and let her hands lightly touch Txle'lan's stomach side muscles to have a bit of a grip on him. It felt nice she could admit, to have a feeling of being secure and safe by wrapping your arms around someone else, even if your arms couldn't fully wrap around that person, it was just a feeling she had wanted back for a while now.

She knew however that she could not be very comfortable with this, for things like this could not happen this way. They were merely different species teaching about one another's worlds and languages, that and they were just some friends. That's all it really was, and that was all it could really be for any two different alien species, it just couldn't work out for one another. Sure they had the Avatar programs and what not to change one another around, but that didn't even matter. The thing was that they were two completely different people, and they had their different likes, there was only a chance that God-forbid that things could even go up by a tiny notch between them. Still though, Txe'lan was a nice enough guy to at least let her be able to teach him a for her to taught by him as well.

She just rested a little bit of her body onto his back, getting ready for him Txe'lan to take them off the Utral Tirea. it was best she just got some of her thoughts about him out of her head, and just do what they were meant to do in the first place. And that was teaching a Na'vi the things the humans usually did involving the language.

[Txe'lan]

Txe'lan knew he shouldn't be doing this, but it was a risk he was willing to take; not only to please Katelyn, but also to be able to take her to a place that would mean teaching would go much faster. He was a very determined Na'vi, to seize the opportunity to learn the language of the Sky People by any means necessary other than muddying up diplomatic relations. Vrrtep'taw was willing to ride double with a Sky Person as long as it was Txe'lan who was riding lead, but there were a couple things that could go wrong; one being that Sky People weren't really built to ride such creatures, and the added weight would cause the flight to be different. It wasn't anything that Txe'lan wouldn't be able to compensate for, but this would be something he would probably never forget given the fact that there was some inherent danger involved.

Once Katelyn found her niche when climbing onto Vrrtep'taw, making her handhold on the sides of his torso underneath his ribcage, Txe'lan was satisfied that they were both ready to fly. He was getting kind of antsy in the good way; he wanted to see how this flight was going to turn out. If she did fall by some mishappen mistake, Txe'lan was more than capable of recovering her before she met the surface of Pandora. Still, that was unlikely that she would fall in the first place, given that she seemed confident and suited to taking such a risk.

"Vrrtep'taw, tswayon!"

Needing no other motivation other than Txe'lan's Tsaheylu, Vrrtep'taw began to flap about and take off from the ground, getting lift and compensating for the added weight with a little extra effort. Compared to Txe'lan, Katelyn was lighter and more compact, making it a little easier to distribute his center of support for the two in order to have a smooth flight.

Now they were off to the Tree of Souls, where the magic would truly begin... [TOPIC LEFT]

((Translation: "Vrrtep'taw, fly!"))