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The air was heavy.
The storm weighted in the heights, silent, dreaded, like a fight ready to break out, like a rumut ready to explode.
This tension had something oppressive about it, like the heat of the hurricane that reigned in the atmosphere, from the bottom of the swamp lowlands to the highest trees in the Kinglor Forest. But for Tamtey this evening, such tension was above all a welcome surprise.
The Na'vi had quickly realized that the sky people feared little, except for two things: wild animals, and stormy nights. The former, because dying trampled by a herd of 'angtsìk or torn to shreds by a palulukan looked bad on the superiors' report (besides being particularly painful).
The latter, because all cats are grey at night (an old saying from Earth that Anqa had once explained—no matter what a "cat" might be). And when the air became saturated with humidity and the heavens unleashed their fury, you could see as much a meter in front of you with your eyes open as with them closed.
But that was because humans didn't know how to listen to Pandora. To prick up their ears for the sublest of whispers, to keep an eye open for the most discreet of clues, to sniff the air for the finest of perfumes.
In Tamtey's opinion, tonight's storm was more like a little help from Eywa, one she would gladly accepted.
"Sarentu. Are you in position?"
Without making a sound, she pressed the button on the radio which was wrapped around her neck.
"Yes, So'lek."
"In that case... Siva ko."
Tamtey switched off the device, recounted her arrows—just to be sure—then jumped over the fence of Station Delta.
In the distance, a lightning split the skies. Above the RDA base, the clouds had not yet released their load, but it was got to happen soon.
Tamtey continued on her way with slow, silent steps, her bow ready to let go one of her famous poisoned arrows in an instant. She made it a point of honor never to use firearms. With a bow, each of her movements resulted from measured, deliberate preparation.
With a gun, you fire without thinking and you take a life without mercy.
These weapons disgusted her.
In the darkness of the night, she was practically invisible. She was moving cautiously, avoiding areas lit by artificial lights as well as guard patrols. She didn't even need to silence the soldiers forever on her way, because unlike her, they didn't notice her at all.
Unwillingly, a sigh of relief escaped her lips as she reached the control room without anyone seeing her. She wouldn't have dared to admit it to So'lek, who never hesitated to reaffirm his hatred towards humans, but she did her best to avoid killing.
Every time someone's heart stopped beating because of her, some strange, bitter taste spread down her throat like a swallow of salt water. She had always refused to stop for a moment to think about what it could possibly mean.
She didn't want to believe that she could feel guilty.
Those humans were destroying Pandora. Killing hundreds of Na'vi. Had ruined her entire childhood. They did not deserve any kind of pity, whatsoever.
And yet, this aftertaste kept appearing, like the smell of a onvä'wll that comes back to itch the nostrils for a long time.
And Tamtey hated not understanding why.
So, if she avoided killing humans, this feeling would rise less frequently in her mouth and wouldn't constantly bother her. Problem solved.
Once the security on the hydrocarbon turbines was disabled from the control room, the next step was too manually close their respective valves. She informed So'lek of her progress by radio; he was still busy stealing gadgets and weapons for the Resistance on the other side of the base, so it was up to her to reach the turbines.
When she stepepd out of the room, a drop fell on her nose. Then another one, on her hand.
Slowly but surely, the rain was coming.
Tamtey would have expressed her delight loudly if her mission didn't depend on stealth. She could have fun flying between the raindrops with Telisi later.
Meanwhile, a thick fog had fallen, enveloping Station Delta and making her movements considerably easier. She jumped onto cables then grabbed a lift tool where she had a close call with a turret, before reaching a sheltered corridor that would lead her to one of the turbines. The plans Teylan had given her were imprinted in her memory, and her sense of direction was sharp; she couldn't be wrong.
As expected, the valve was in plain sight, less than ten meters in front of her. There, she froze.
Just a few steps away, she heard voices talking to each other. A glance to the left, another one to the right; not a single shadow in view. She peeked into the opening beside her, and spotted them. Two dark figures, heavily armed, in full discussion. From there, no distinct words could be heard, but it didn't matter.
She quickly weighed the pros and cons. As long as they stayed in their positions, everything would be fine.
With a swift and precise movement, she turned the valve before jumping upon a large container. The mist almost entierely concealed her, like a veil of smoke falling just at the right moment.
A handful of explosions shook the station. A lightning bolt struck at the same time, somewhere in the vicinity of the station.
She waited ten seconds, twenty, thirty. Nobody.
Cautiously, she placed one foot back on the ground, then the rest of her body followed.
Suddenly, her breath caught in her throat. The soldiers' chatter was reaching her much more clearly than before.
They were coming this way.
She quickly raised her bow, saw the string tighten, prepared to release her index finger and...
... the words that followed made her hesitate.
"Have you heard about that crazy blue too?"
A masterful leap propelled her back to her previous hiding place, where she froze in the shadows.
"The one who collects dog tags? Yeah, of course, like everyone else."
It was just in time, as the two men immediately appeared in the hallway. Their steps were steady, calm, completely unaware of the enemy who was spying on them. Crouched on her makeshift perch to avoid hitting the roof, she didn't dare move an inch.
"No, no, not him, a girl," retorted the first soldier, a rather scrawny human, even shorter than the average of his kind. "I think they call her Silence of Death... or no, maybe Shadow of Death. Or something like that. Because when she decides to kill you, you don't see her. You barely notice a shadow, and it's too late when you realize she's there and has already slaughtered all your buddies."
"How do we know it's the same blue?"
Tamtey saw the man shrug with as much enthusiasm as if he were talking about the weather.
"Easy: same arrows, same paints, same poison."
The second guard, whose skin was noticeably darker than his companion's, made a choking noise.
"Gross."
"But I mean, that poison is kinda useless," the little guy added. "Because every single time, without fail, her arrows manage to pierce your skull. Right between the eyes! Some nerds think it might be some kind of weird ritual. You're dead in less than a millisecond."
A high-pitched whistling spread through the corridor.
"Damn! I hope I never run into her then..."
"Oh, that'd be better for you. A friend of mine survived one of her attacks by hiding under a barrel and he still has nightmares about it. He's gonna be repatriated to Earth in the next convoy."
Lightning struck—much closer to the base this time, if Tamtey were to estimate the distance—and the rest of the conversation dissipated amid the raindrops hitting the ground with more and more strength.
So, Shadow of Death.
She had no doubt as to the identity of this famous Na'vi.
They were talking about her. She was deeply convinced of it. As convinced that Sarentu blood flowed in her veins, as sure that the eclipse always eventually goes away.
Tamtey felt a whirlwind of mixed emotions about it. Any of her kind would brag about it, for sure. The idea of being feared by humans, even dreaded, to the point of giving them nightmares... Many would dance with pride.
So why not her?
Why didn't that nickname sound like an honor to her?
Why did hearing those words hurt her?
Never mind. There was no time for existential questions.
The wisest decision would be to leave. Now that the coast was clear, the last turbine was just waiting for her, and she could finally get the hell out of here.
But as it happened, Tamtey's curiosity had always gotten the better of her common sense.
Although this time, it wasn't even simply to satisfy this curiosity. It was vital. She needed to know what rumors were circulating about her.
And she mentally slapped herself as soon as the thought formed, because the opinions of humans shouldn't matter so much to her. TAP was far behind her now. The days when she blushed when Mercer praised her for answering correctly were in the past, a past she hated more than anything and would give anything to forget.
But there she was, silently chasing after the two soldiers in a sudden burst of absurdity and utter audacity. Echoes from Ri'nela were already lecturing her.
However, audacious didn't necessarily mean reckless; she was careful to ensure each of her feet touched the metal floor without making the slighest noise, and to keep a safe distance from her targets. She also counted on the fact that humans were generally far too full of themselves to consider that someone could be smarter than them, and to dare to glance back from time to time.
Thus, she managed to get close enough to catch snippets of conversation.
"...and apparently, continued the little man, his tongue clearly loose, she'd be behind the destruction of more than half of the stations in the Frontier."
"Well, that's something!"
"Yup. Often with the other blue, by the way. The Dog Tag Warrior, as they say. Some even say they're together, kinda like Sully and his girl, you know."
Loud snickers rose.
"Ugh, all those savages disgust me. But birds of a feather flock together, I guess. I don't really know who I'd rather run into..."
"Well, you're dead either way! Few aliens around here are as bloodthirsty as those two."
Tamtey's feet rooted her to the spot, while the two soldiers listlessly continued on their way.
She felt as if her heart was beating abnormally in her chest.
These soldiers had just set her on equal footing with So'lek.
So'lek.
She could not understand why.
The two Na'vi were very different from each other, despite their deep friendship (or even more, lately) and their shared skill in hunting.
So'lek often fought with firearms. Tamtey hated them.
So'lek liked to infiltrate a base through the vents, underground. Tamtey preferred to go through the air, to get an overview.
Expressed this way, the Sarentu found her thought absurd.
Anyone would dream of being considered So'lek's equal. A born hunter, a formidable warrior, weapons held no secrets for him and the forest had revealed all its nooks and crannies to him.
Most of all, he was the first Na'vi Tamtey had ever met (other than the Sarentu) but also the first friend she had adem after leaving TAP. And recently, he was becoming even more than that.
So why, why did being compared to him bother her so much?
"Intruder!!"
Damn it.
A bullet grazed her shoulder, and she reacted instinctively.
Arrows flew before she even asked her brain to nock them. It all happened in an instant.
One second the two soldiers were firing at her; the next, they were lying, dead, on the ground.
And still that damn acrid taste in her mouth.
It took her longer than usual to compose herself after shooting. If a shrill voice hadn't blared from loudspeakers above her head at that precise moment to alert the entire base, she would still be there, motionless, staring at her two victims.
Here was another reason to add to her list of "why she hated guns."
Because if you need stealth, forget it.
Shaking herself out of her stupor, she rushed to retrieve her precious arrows—and found that each one was stuck right between the eyes. She shivered.
It's just rain, she convinced herself.
The blood was already mingling with the drops and dust, forming a kind of brownish mud that was unpleasant to both the sight and the smell. She squinted and tried to ignore the crackling sounds as she sharply pulled the projectiles out.
Even so, she had the impression that they echoed in her eardrums louder than a thunderclap.
She hadn't been spotted yet, but Tamtey could clearly hear the orders barked by soldiers and the heavy clatter of AMPs running through the base. Reinforcements would be here any minute. She had to act fast.
"So'lek, someone raised the alarm. I'm heading towards the last valve. Don't stay in the base, it's about to explode."
Her radio crackled.
"So'lek?"
She pressed the button again; still nothing. The hunter must be busy with something else.
But she didn't have time to wait.
She cursed. Never mind, she trusted him; he would know how to handle things on his own.
Her heart pounding, she managed to make her way to the turbine. With the rain now pouring down and the total darkness of night on the base—the sky people don't appreciate bioluminescence's true value—she couldn't even see where to put her feet. It was her twitching ears that saved her several times, at the very last second.
But she didn't land alone in the room. An AMP was standing just in front of the turbine. She would never be able to pass unnoticed.
From where she stood, she had the perfect angle to shatter the glass protecting the soldier and pierce his head. All she needed was a single arrow, just one, and it would be over. A clean, flawless kill.
But her hand shook when she tried to stretch the bow, and her eyes became so blurry that she had to blink aggressively.
She couldn't bring herself to kill him.
And Eywa, how she hated herself for it.
Pushing back the rage that was swelling in her chest and clouding her clear thinking, she threw a siren pod, praying that the AMP would hear it despite the rumbling thunder.
Luck was on her side; the guy reacted as expected and gave her a clear coast. She didn't ask for anything more.
Less than ten seconds later, she called Telisi and flew out of the chaos as fast as possible.
"So'lek? Are you here?"
Her heart skipped a beat in a silence that seemed to last forever.
Then:
"Yes, I am on my way."
Even knowing he was alive, seeing him arrive on Ìley's back, in the flesh, eased the tension that kept her arms stiff and her jaw clenched. In the back of her mind, she also felt Telisi sharing waves of comfort with her. Grateful, she tossed a mushroom into the air, which the ikran joyfully dived to catch.
Apparently, fishing had been good for So'lek. His arms were full of all kinds of rifles, and Tamtey spotted several grenades almost falling out of a bag tied to Ìley's saddle.
The Resistance's stock of weapons tended to decrease quite rapidly. A resupplying was necessary, and So'lek had volunteered—he hadn't really given anyone a choice, to be honest.
"Sorry I could not be of much help today," he apologized, once the two ikran were gliding side by side. "Did everything go well for you?"
"Yes."
That being said, Tamtey mentally urged Telisi to speed up a bit. She couldn't bring herself to look So'lek in the eye.
So, obviously, Ìley promptly did the same. Whether it was of his own initiative or because his rider had asked him to, Eywa only knew.
He didn't utter a word, however, and the Sarentu sighed. She'd had time to learn his tactics. So'lek remained silent not to pressure her, of course, but also because he knew she would eventually give in under the weight of the silence.
And so, as always, she gave in:
"Apparently, the RDA gave me a nickname?"
Oddly enough, her statement sounded more like a question. She didn't bother to correct herself.
So'lek raised an eyebrow, his way of showing his interest in the subject.
"Shadow of Death. I heard two soldiers talk about it," she added.
Her voice was unusually flat, bland. Lacking of the vibrancy that usually filled her when she and So'lek talked.
He noticed it.
"That seems to bother you."
"I... yes. Well. I don't really know."
A flash of lightning suddenly painted across the sky ahead of them and surprised Telisi. Her friend immediately leaned on her back and began to whisper soothing words to her in Na'vi.
Tamtey wasn't sure the ikran could truly understand the meaning of her words, but her intentions would be enough. After a few moments, Telisi's wingbeats became calmer again.
"They compared me to you," Tamtey continued spontaneously, the words slipping out of her mouth without her even realizing it. "Apparently, we're among, and I quote, the most 'bloodthirsty' Na'vi on the entire Western Frontier!"
Usually, she would have punctuated her sentence with a joke like "Be careful, the student will soon become the master..." then given a teasing little nudge, just because.
Not that night. Not when her feelings were so confused, so disturbing. Not when she didn't dare confront them, because the reality, which was becoming more and more obvious to her, terrified her.
"And you do not like that," So'lek guessed.
"I don't know! It's just, it kind of feels... weird?"
She closed her eyes. Then, she allowed herself a break to feel everything surrounding her.
The fine, warm, almost comforting raindrops flowing down her face and streaming down her skin without stopping. Telisi's strong muscles, tensed and relaxed with each wingbeat, as if regulated by an invisible law. The scents of bark, fertile earth, and dried leaves as they flew over what was likely a bamboo grove. The cries, sometimes high-pitched, sometimes guttural, of ikran, riti and many other wild animals, who had also come to brave the storm; perhaps to bring food to their young, or simply for pleasure.
What amazed Tamtey most about her planet was the atmosphere of life that emanated from it.
But these humans were ruining everything.
"I don't like being associated with death, that's all," she blurted out. "And now it's in the very name they give me. And also–"
Her voice broke abruptly.
And also they compared me to you.
And I love you, but I don't want to be like you.
I don't want to kill like you.
I don't want to feel the same hatred, the same thirst for revenge as you.
I don't want to reach that same point of no return.
She didn't dare say any of this aloud. It would only have hurt her more.
Her, and So'lek too. Especially.
Except the hunter had gotten to know her a little too well. He knew perfectly how to read between the lines and her silences.
"You do not want to end up like me."
Tamtey grimaced.
Only words amidst the storm, his sentence sounded harsh, raw to her ears, like a too salty dish whose aftertaste lingers on the tongue.
Yet she didn't have the strength to deny it.
And So'lek remained silent.
Tamtey did not miss the way Ìley made a small swerve to the side, very slight, but just enough for his rider's expression to disappear behind the downpour.
Her eyes widened. Regret, tinged with pain, could easily be read on her face.
Gently, she asked Telisi to come closer.
"I'm... I'm really sorry, So'lek."
He raised his head and met her gaze, which was full of sincerity.
"Do not apologize," he said, and was Tamtey dreaming or was his voice even deeper than usual? "It is my own choices that have made me the person I am today. That, and those cursed humans."
"I... yes. But..."
She sighed, and her mouth created a cloud of smoke, which dispered under the raindrops.
"I didn't mean to hurt you."
"You did not."
Although So'lek's facial expressions were generally the same, something in the stiffness of his features made her doubt the veracity of this last statement.
"It is a good thing that you do not want to be like me," he continued, as if he hadn't noticed her hesitation. "You have a kind heart. Humans have not managed to destroy that in you. It is all to your credit that you do not want to kill them."
"I suppose so," she murmured, unsure if he had heard her over the driving rain.
A new bolt of lightning ripped the darkness, and the top of Hometree appeared on the horizon for a fraction of a second.
"The soldiers also said they thought we were a couple," Tamtey suddenly added.
"Really?" the hunter retorted. "Surprising. Humans are rarely so perceptive."
Despite herself, that made her chuckle slightly. Another day, she might have blushed or started stammering, but her brain was too tired for this that evening.
"Am I dreaming, or did you just make... a joke?"
"I can have fun sometimes," So'lek punctuated by a shrug.
"Hm-hm..."
He squinted. He didn't like that tone. And that sparkle in the Sarentu's eyes didn't bode well...
"In that case, the last one to arrive at Hometree is a chicken!"
And, clearly agreeing with her rider, Telisi sped up straight ahead with a piercing cry. So'lek could have sworn she was making fun of him.
He sighed.
"Ìley, do not force yourself to follow them if you do not want to."
The ikran snorted joyfully before setting off after them.