Chapter 10

Ocean waves rose and fell in a steady pattern as Harry, in his rotorcraft, glided over them.

A burst of water shot up into the air. An immense creature emerged from the water, its melodic voice calling out over the waves. Three more followed the first with the final one staying close to what appeared to be a baby.

The creatures resembled whales that might have been found before the great extinction event of the 22nd century, however far larger. They had dark grey skin which shimmered with dark patterns on their skin. If they were natural or painted on, he wasn't sure. As they breached the water and dived back, he could see the animal had four eyes, six flippers and multiple blowholes dotting its back.

Harry flicked a few buttons to activate his scanning equipment. He had been following the creatures for several hours now. Amazed at finding a creature this huge. His records were once again useless, with no human previously recording sightings of them before and as such had not been assigned a name. He briefly considered naming them as the discoverer, but quickly quashed that thought. He wanted to know what the native called them, not some made-up name.

He was starting to understand more about this pod, they gracefully slid through waves and seemed large enough to deter attacks on them. Even then, he witnessed the bond between mother and calf. The baby whale was also by the side of the largest whale in the group, never given the chance to get lost or left behind.

The sound they made was also interesting. Beyond the musical quality of their calls and clicks, Harry noticed they often repeated sounds.

Could it be?... Harry thought in wonderment. Looking at his instruments, it was becoming increasingly clear. It was a language!

What they were saying, was beyond him for now. To decipher a language, any language, he needed at least some parts that he knew what they meant as reference points. Another research topic, Harry nodded happily at finding something else that he could use to satiate his unending curiosity, at least for a time.

The whales divided back down below the surface, and Harry knew they wouldn't surface for several minutes. Shutting down his equipment, he checked the horizon for threats.

A large reef of rock was ahead that sheltered a group of low-lying islands. He guided the plane to approach and saw something he hadn't expected.

Navi!

They had built huts along the water's edge, with netted walkways connecting different islands together. Great rock pools lay in the shadow of the reef that the blue figures worked in pulling in nets of fish and underwater plants.

Sea creatures and Navi played in harmony in the bay with several riding ilu, just like the one that had taken residence on his island, with great speed. Larger, more fearsome creatures with many teeth were also present, although they had riders on too. Perhaps some sort of warrior's mount.

He hovered there for a moment taking in this find, he and the rest of the humans back at the mining camp had no idea Navi lived in the ocean, assuming they all lived in the forest.

Calls soon echoed throughout the island and the natives quickly melded into the water and away from his position. Several of the warrior's mounts, he remembered had been called tsurak (Skimwings) that could not only swim through the water, but their wings meant they could glide in the air for a time as well, started to approach him.

Taking a chance he brought the plane down, as far away from the village as he could.

Taking a step out, he raised his hands in the unvisceral gesture of peace.

A group of spear-wielding natives rode over shooting various words which he could only interpret as a threat.

"Nimwey! Nimwey!" (Peace) Harry called out trying to avoid a repeat of his previous encounter. He had left his rifle on the seat of the plane, not in his hands, but only a short distance away if it did become violent.

A large built man dismounted and approached holding his spear out threateningly. As he did Harry noticed for the first time, that this tribe was very different from the Navi he had seen before or himself. Their colouring was more turquoise, compared to his royal blue. Their tail was far thicker, with the hands similarly streamlined, still having the traditional four fingers to his five. He could see the adaptations that this tribe must have evolved to have over thousands of years. Charles Darwin, still proving his relevance.

Seeing the spear tip approach him, he re-focused. "Nimwey" he tried again.

The figure finally paused. Harry assumed he must be a leader, or as the native called them, Olo'eyktan. His body was decorated with several tribal garments, however that didn't hide the pure muscle and strength. Harry knew if it turned, into a fight, he would be more than lucky to escape.

"Fyape syaw fko ngar?" (What are you called). Fortunately, Harry's Navi had improved enough that the was starting to hear the language almost as clearly as he would English.

(A/N: From here, many of the Navi conversations will be written in English as that is how Harry is hearing it now. I will indicate Navi by using italics within speech marks eg "Hello").

"Harry"

"Harri?" They echoed and he nodded.

"I come in peace"

One of the warriors dismount and approached his leader. He whispered something in his ear and started hatefully at Harry.

"You no Navi." He stated. It was not a question, but Harry thought he needed to explain.

"No. I'm…" Harry struggled to find the word and could only say it in English. "Avatar. Dream-walker."

That started murmured concerns from the gathered crowd. Despite being far away from the mining site, they had still heard of his kind before. He doubted that was a good thing.

"Tell me, Demon. Why shouldn't we kill you as Skypeople have so many Navi?" The Olo'eyktan's angry eyes burned into him, as he tapped his spearhead over Harry's rapidly beating heart.

"Nimwey." He was starting to panic. "I'm an explorer. Leaner. I study the ways of…" He was about to try and explain his scientific interests when he decided to shift to a more relatable topic for them. "Eywa."

They laughed at him. It wasn't pleasant to be mocked by a tribe of people, but at least it meant they weren't threatening to kill him.

"Skypeople can't see. Skypeople can't learn. Skypeople can't hear Eywa." The warrior beside the leader spat out.

"Hum." (leave) The Olo'eyktan commanded, finally withdrawing his spear and indicating to the plane. "You're not welcome here."

Harry looked back at his rotorcraft and then back to the village. The opportunities here to learn about the Navi, and this water tribe were endless.

"Rutxe" (Please) He begged. "I just want to learn from you."

"Pxasik!" (No Way!) "Leave or your bones will live with the Metkayina eternally." Harry filed that word away, Metkayina, that must be what they call themselves.

As a last resort, Harry slowly moved to his plane. He reached in and took a small round device. He threw it to the feet of their leader.

The surrounding warriors didn't like that, spears were raised again very quickly. But their leader's gesture stopped them at seeing no threat.

Harry tried to explain. "It's a communication device. If you need my help, you press that button on the top and I'll know you want something from me." Seeing he was about to be refused Harry continued. "Eywa ngahu" (May Eywa be with you) and quickly got into the craft and took off.

It was time to head home.

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Having lost the trail of the giant whale-like creatures, he made sure to record the Metkayina's location before flying home.

Harry chose a different route back, looping around to explore a wider area. He had found several islands and concluded he must have entered some sort of archipelago. As his path found several islands, each time he went in closer hoping to find another tribe that might be more friendly toward him, yet found no signs.

Until he noticed broken netting on one island.

Landing his plane, the island was far smaller than the others he had seen. He approached cautiously, checking his thermal scanner as he walked, but found no life except for that in the ocean or the birds in the sky.

A large, netted dwelling had been here at some point. All that remained were the ruins and torn shards of a tribe long destroyed. He reached down to trace a broken pot half buried in the sand. Looking around he saw the signs of additional dwellings, the marks on trees all that remained of their existence.

Harry found various artefacts of this destroyed tribe but choose to leave them. To plunder such a ruin would not only be disrespectful, but immoral. Whatever had ended this tribe had happened over 50 years ago. The humans had only been here for a few decades and couldn't be responsible for this.

"What happened to you" He whispered to the wind.

There could have been many causes, a great storm, conflict, disease, migration and many more. Even the tribes with long legacies weren't immortal, all things had a beginning and an end on Pandora. The cycle of life and death.

He made a note of the position and resumed his journey.

He had managed to locate several islands that his satellite images failed to identify. Pandora's atmosphere as well as areas of magnetic interference made orbital imagery unreliable at the best of times. The locations would all serve as excellent research points where could find more varied plants and wildlife to study.

Finally arriving back home on his island, he walked to the peak and looked down on his domain. Seeing the Metkayina tribe had shown him all the opportunities living with the sea could present.

He brought up the images captured from his fly-over, the way that pools of water were layered together to create areas for agriculture was ingenious. He was sure that they hadn't drastically altered the environment to suit their needs, but with his drones, he could start to reshape the shallower areas to mirror the tribe's design.

Already the great blocks of stone he had excavated had been placed along the seabed, forming a wave barrier. Even the wildlife had bounced back from his initial destruction, slowly but surely covering the blocks forming the beginnings of a new reef.

Chirp! Chirp!

The ilu poked his head out and called a greeting. It was strange, but all the sounds it made were starting to make more sense to him. He couldn't help but smile. It might be a pest and insatiably hungry, but Harry couldn't deny that having someone, or something to return to filled his heart with joy.

He went past his house to pull several fish he had placed in cold storage and went to the beach.

He had a friend to feed after all.