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Post by Jai'byrd on May 18, 2011 16:46:40 GMT -5
Kilvan'mawey sat there for a moment listening intently to Nia as she mouthed some of what Nia said so she could understand it better in her own addled mind. Then the old Tsahik smirked a bit as she turned to Ni'awtu before answering Nia.
<<I like this one,>> was all she said, which made Ni'awtu cock her head to one side in response, a bit confused.
If Kilvan'mawey liked her that could mean a few things as the elder did have a very odd sense of humor. Ni'awtu hoped she wouldn't mess with Nia like she did others in the Clan. It might make Nia run back to the other Sky People in tears and start outright hostilities between them again. However the younger female had to trust that her Tsahik wouldn't do any such thing...
Kilvan'mawey turned back to Nia and smiled a bit, "Heh, I speak your words because long ago the Sky People set up a... school, yes? Taught us these words. Now to lead our people we must learn this. We did it as one day we think you come back, yes?"
The elder turned serious for a moment as she paused to collect her thoughts in what to say next, and how to say it, "Nia Sky Person, why have you come back? Why are there so much of you all? Eh? There are much among us that do not want you here."
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Post by fuzzydude on May 19, 2011 13:14:56 GMT -5
OOC: I feel really stupid right now. I just spent like 10 minutes working on a response to this post, only to suddenly realize I was rewriting a post I'd already written and had been responding to the PREVIOUS post you made instead of the latest one. Somehow, it just totally slipped my mind that the last two posts, including the one I'd written, had actually happened. But shoot, I liked the way it was starting. So I'm going to edit the old post anyway, even though it's already happened.  BIC: Oh, right! The RDA had come in to provide medicine, education, and a bunch of other stuff to the Na'vi before they'd suddenly gotten attacked. She'd just totally forgotten that education probably included how to speak English. But that was over a century ago. Was she actually alive back then? She had no idea Na'vi lived so long! Of course, this also reminded her how deep she was right now. The last time they'd tried to help the Na'vi, the entire colony had gotten overrun and the old Na'vi was suddenly sounding much more serious. Nia hesitated at the question. The truth was they had lost their home, had fled to Pandora just because they knew it was there, and had plopped themselves down on Na'vi land without a word, hoping that nobody would mind. Of course, they didn't really have any other choice and nowhere else to go, but she didn't know if the Na'vi would see it that way. So far, things had been quiet between them, but Nia was suddenly realizing that her next few words could, potentially, determine the entire fate of both of their peoples. And, of course, she had no idea what to say. She tried to tap into what her parents had taught her before she decided to ignore her parents, but arranging a corporate hostile takeover wasn't exactly the same as this. The truth was she was way in over her head. The guy that sent her was the one who should be out here! "I..." she began, falteringly. "Umm... Sorry, ma'am. I want to try to explain, but I'm just an engineer," she said carefully. "Our... leaders should be the one talking to you about all this," she continued. As over-expressive as ever, it was clear how awkward she was with having to do the equivalent of trying to put the Na'vi on hold while she transferred them over to the bosses. She didn't even like the suits in charge. They were morons. And the diplomat they sent... Well, for a diplomat, the guy had been a total jerk. Still... she wasn't sure she could handle all this pressure herself, and they were the experts, right? She shifted her weight back and forth uncomfortably. |
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Post by Jai'byrd on May 19, 2011 14:45:19 GMT -5
At first the elder looked confused and turned to Ni'awtu, and spoke in Na'vi <<Engineer, what is an engineer?>>
Ni'awtu shrugged and in turn Kilvan'mawey also shrugged. It didn't matter until Nia made it matter, thus she ignored it for now.
So she wasn't a leader among her people... interesting. Why did they send her and not another leader had come? Maybe if Kilvan'mawey was more uptight about being traditional, she'd be offended by this, but right now she was more curious than anything else.
The Tsahik turned and spoke to Ni'awtu first, <<How did you find her again? Tell me all youngling and be quick about it.>>
Ni'awtu scratched the back of her head as she looked quite sheepish, <<I, uh, saved her from a syen'kxeyey bush the other day when I was observing the Dreamwalkers. She was about to walk right into it, I... I should have let it kill her but something told me I shouldn't let it... Thus we spoke some, just telling each other our names really, until more Dreamwalkers appeared and I left quickly, unseen.>>
Kilvan'mawey smirked at the younger female, <<We will be speaking later, we will.>>
Ni'awtu's shoulders slumped a bit at this; great, she was in for a lecture by the Tsahik and the Olo'eyktan no doubt.
Kilvan'mawey now turned back to Nia as she thought for a while before responding to the Dreamwalker. Obviously Nia was sent because she had a good experience with a Na'vi and wanted to repeat it - or they viewed her as expendable, either way...
"Yes, heh heh heh, but leaders are not now here, yes? Nia is here. I want to learn from Nia why the Sky People have come back," she pointed a shriveled, gnarled yet oh so slender finger at the Dreamwalker, "Your leaders sent you and they not come, so you will tell me please and thank you much."
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Post by fuzzydude on May 19, 2011 16:49:42 GMT -5
"But-" Nia hesitated. Great, now what? She couldn't flat out refuse without possibly getting them angry. This had all been a stupid idea. She'd known this entire thing was stupid from the beginning! But nooooo, send the clueless engie out into the dangerous jungle with its killer bushes and sticky damp leaves to talk to the enigmatic natives! She had the feeling that a few particular individuals back in the colony would be finding that their personal showers were suddenly mysteriously only dispensing ice-cold water for the next week. And the worst part was she was hating this feeling - being totally incompetent and sounding like some lackey for the very people she regularly insulted for their lack of intelligence! "Screw the 'leaders'," she muttered, sighing with resignation. This was too confusing. She'd just stick with the truth. That's what she usually did, anyway. "We had to leave our home," she said, making sure to speak slower than normal. As usual, her emotions seemed to be in projection mode and it was clear how much that simple statement affected her. She found a rock to sit on. "Earth - that's what we called it. It wasn't perfect, and there were a lot of problems, but it was a nice little planet. Lots of interesting people, really neat stuff. It was home and it was pretty in its own little way, even with so many people crammed together in cities..." she trailed off for a moment before pulling herself back. "So, the thing was, we started running out of space. There wasn't enough resources for all of us to live there. So, we had to leave and find somewhere else to live. We flew in all different directions, but we knew about this place, so a lot of us went here. The... uh... Sky People you met before were just one clan. This is the rest of us. Or, at least the ones that came here. That's why there's so many more this time. "I guess to you, we must have just appeared out of nowhere and landed in the middle of your moon," she realized, having never really looked at it from the other side. "Uh... sorry about that," she added ruefully, not quite sure what to say about that. "Anyway, the people in charge heard about Ni'awtu rescuing me, so they figured it was a good idea to send me out here again since they thought you might listen... Although I kind of get the impression the whole rescue thing was sort of an accident," she added with a bit of a smile at Ni'awtu. "So, I'm supposed to tell you we're friendly and that we just want to talk and find a way to coexist... and stuff," he trail twitched nervously. "What's really going on, though, is nobody knows what the people in charge are thinking. The rest of us just want to get by day to day without getting shot by an arrow or eaten by random animal. Personally, I wish I was back on Earth, but we really don't have anywhere else to go and we're hoping to avoid another misunderstanding like last time." She shrugged. Well, that was all she had. She fidgetted. And this was why they were supposed to have someone else telling them all this! OOC: Bah, still too long and too much exposition. Sorry about that! Best I have right now.  |
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Post by Jai'byrd on May 19, 2011 21:19:56 GMT -5
The aged Tsahik nodded as Nia spoke and digested the Dreamwalker's words. It made Kilvan'mawey think back to something in the story songs about Jakesulli. That he went to the Tree of Souls and told Eywa of his dying world - that they had killed their Mother... It made her shiver involuntarily for a moment as she adjusted her shawl around her some. This information had to be passed on to the other Clan leaders, they must be told why the Sky People were back.
"I thank you Nia, for telling this me," she nodded, "You were right before, I should speak to your leaders. We are not happy with you coming back, but I think you speak truth. No going back, we must move forward, yes?"
She rubbed her chin some and thought about Ni'awtu, "It is no mistake Ni'awtu saved you, she is 'upxareil of our Clan. Hrm... one who delivers words, yes? I will teach her these words we speak now, so she may deliver words to you. Is this well? What say you Nia Sky People?"
<<Ni'awtu, I will be teaching you some of the Sky People tongue, as 'upxareil you will deliver messages to them like you do to the other Clans.>>
The younger female shifted her feet some as she looked rather uncomfortable, <<Yes Tsahik.>>
'upxareil = messenger
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Post by fuzzydude on May 19, 2011 22:28:41 GMT -5
"Yeah, I don't think either of us are happy we're back," Nia agreed.
This was precisely why she preferred machines. They were simple. You made them better, or you improved them, or you kept them from breaking. It was always clear whether you'd done this or not, and you didn't have to go around making big decisions on behalf of every human on the stupid moon. Machines wanted the same thing you did - to keep doing their job and not fall apart.
On the bright side, it was somehow comforting to know that the Na'vi she was talking to seemed pretty calm about this and was now just as interested in working out the problem with the colony as they were. This already gave them something in common. The not so bright side that Nia really didn't want to think about is that they'd be talking to a bunch of stuffy corporate suits that came from a world where backstabbing was the norm and all she could do was hope they weren't idiots dealing with the people with lots of pointy sticks that had already proven they could drive humans out despite their lack of technology.
She sighed to herself.
"I can't think of anything better right now," she said. "Just, when you talk to them..." she hesitated a moment. "...be cautious," she said vaguely.
She couldn't exactly directly warn her about the type of people she was going to be dealing with. At this point, that would do more harm than good. Still, they deserved a heads up before stepping into a situation that could explode, most likely hurting the colony more than them.
At least Ni'awtu would be the messenger. They weren't friends, exactly, but the life-saving deal gave them something. Maybe she could try to help make this work - quietly, from the background where she preferred it. Unfortunately, this meant she'd have to start paying much more attention to all the communications, posturing, and pointless politicking in the colony, and it was sure to erupt in full force after she came back with this report.
"I'm sorry this is difficult. I know you didn't ask for this. But... thanks for being so patient," she said, genuinely meaning it. She wasn't sure what she'd expected from the Na'vi, but somehow, she didn't expect someone as calm as this one. It was too bad their council wasn't filled with shriveled up blueberries.
She looked over briefly at Ni'awtu, who wasn't looking particularly happy about the arrangement. In a way, they were kind of in similar situations. She gave an apologetic smile, then seemed to think of something and began fumbling with the radio strapped to her neck. She unsnapped it with a soft click and held it towards Ni'awtu.
<<This...>> she began in slow, broken Na'vi, <<named 'radio'. Can talk far away to me. Press...>> she said, pointing at the button on the top of the small device, <<then speak. Stop press when not speak.>>
She paused before looking to the older Na'vi.
"If it's alright with you, that is," she asked. "This might be useful... just in case."
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Post by Jai'byrd on May 20, 2011 10:48:07 GMT -5
The elderly Na'vi smiled again, this time showing a bit of her fangs, "Yes, will be careful. We do not forget our past, and we know Ikran do not change their markings. Also I be caution you too, not all Na'vi will listen first like I, heh heh, at one time I would have been doing the same as they, shoot you full of ayswizaw. Yet I be old, hard to move so fast no more, so I listen more. Other Clans, they will be more..." again her wrinkled and spotted hand waved through the air looking for the word, "Mean? Yes, mean. So be caution too, yes?" When Nia thanked Kilvan'mawey, she chuckled, "You thank Ni'awtu, not I. I just old Na'vi, Ni'awtu is the one you owe." Ni'awtu cocked her head to one side as he heard her name, but didn't follow the words around it. What were they saying about her? However before Ni'awtu could ask, Nia was handing her something that had been around Nia's neck. She had already given a gift to the Na'vi earlier, why another one? <<This...>> she began in slow, broken Na'vi, <<named 'radio'. Can talk far away to me. Press...>> she said, pointing at the button on the top of the small device, <<then speak. Stop press when not speak.>>Ni'awtu took it gingerly as she held it out in both hands, turning it over and over. She looked up to Kilvan'mawey in askance... The Tsahik just nodded and in doing so told Ni'awtu it was okay to keep it soundlessly and reassuring Nia of her actions. "This is good, Nia Sky People. I will teach Ni'awtu and will send her to meet with you again in a few days, yes? Good. Good-bye Nia, be with Eywa." And with that, the two were summarily dismissed from her presence. Ni'awtu picked up in this quickly and waved for Nia to follow her. Atan'eko picked up on this as well as he had finished his fishy meal and waddled after them, back the way they came.
ayswizaw - arrows OOC: If ya wanna end it here or make one more post, go for it but methinks this thread is coming to an end.  |
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