Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The Na’vi boy watched from the overhanging branches; a feathered arrow had landed square in the chest of a close deerlike creature - one that he was hunting! He held back from leaping down from his spot and hissing, when a figure came into view - hooded in thick beech leaves; plucking their arrow from the ribcage of the prey, and muttering something under their breath - presumably a greeting to Eywa, the deity the Na’vi - and, he thought - the rest of the land shared.
His muscles rippling, he was ready to pounce onto the creature - perhaps it was the hooded figure’s kill, yet it was his - by right! His father was - indeed - Toruk Makto. Something only six Na’vi members had ever managed to achieve the title of - rider of last shadow.
Landing on the prey, he bore his teeth, giving off an angry hiss - get away. His message was clear. He would fight with his whole soul for, not just the physical food, but the glory it would bring him - he would greatly outdo Rotxo at getting Rena’s attention with this! The figure was caught off guard, and their hood fell off in a mass of panic and, strangely enough, unbridled fear.
The boy stopped in his tracks; what that hood had revealed had completely besotted him. First, instead of a slinking member of the defeated Manguan - this Na’vi was without their paints and markings - and instead of a masculine rival, he had begun to see that this figure was indeed a fem, with large, grey eyes, instead of the bright yellow of forestborn, or the sea blue of those of the ocean, already unusual, and a slim body. But what had really gotten his attention, the figure seemed to have almost inverted colours for both their braid, and their kuru. Their hair was a stark white, like nothing he had seen before, and their kuru was, instead of a flesh-pink - like normal Na’vi, was a lichen green.
He took a step backwards, stunned, and, before he knew it, the fem had snapped out of her funk, her four-fingered left hand on her blade handle. She swung it forwards, and, as the boy involuntarily scampered backwards, snatched the deer from the earth’s hold. She let out a highpitched hiss, her fear from before mixed with rage.
“ Leave me! “
The Na’vi words sounded strange coming from the fem’s mouth, stocky and unprepared; she was not well-learned in it, which was strange, as most Na’vi learn it as young as four.
Swishing a white-tufted tail, she stalked away.
The boy gripped her wrist, almost desperation in his gaze, mixed with curiosity. “ wait! what’s your name? I am Loak. “ His yellow eyes were pleading.
The fem’s gaze was hard and focused, “ I am Faedern. “ She wretched her wrist free, bounding into the bushes, with the creature limp in her grip. As she left, Loak's mind wandered far, far from the enclove he was in. He felt himself yearn for Faedern, for reasons he could not dismiss. Her bird-white hair - her stormy-grey eyes - He leapt after her, his yellow eyes shining in the post eclipse bright lights.