The sign
Aungiari
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Looking at Riley now, the woman was silent. She gave a small regard of acknowledgment, but she seemed stubborn in not speaking.

Instead, Riley only offered her thanks.

"Your reasons are your own. Thank you for saving our lives." Riley thanked.

"Yeah, we would've been screwed if you didn't come along-" Jake said, settling into a squat next to Riley and the woman.

She began to walk away.

"Hey where are you going- just- hey slow down-" he reached for her, "I just wanna say thanks for killing those things-"

Jake made the mistake of grabbing her arm. She spun and struck him hard in the face with her bow. She pointed at him with a frown.

"Don't thank!" She said in a warning tone, "you don't thank for this!" She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"This is sad. Very sad only." She said, still pointing her bow at him threateningly.

"Okay- okay, I'm sorry. Whatever I did, I'm sorry." Jake said backing up.

The woman almost looked like she was going to leave but then she looked back at him and scowled.

"All this is your fault. They did not need to die!" She said with a hiss, her hand motioning out towards where the dead nantang or viperwolves were.

"My fault? They attacked me, how am I the bad guy?" Jake asked, like he wasn't the one who goaded them on earlier.

"Your fault! Your fault!" She said, punctuating her words with a threatening step forward, "you're like a baby, making noise, don't know what to do!" She said in a flurry of frustration.

"Fine, fine." Jake stated, "If you love your little forest friends, why not just let them kill my ass? What's the thinking?" Jake asked, getting to his feet.

"Why save you?" She asked. Both Riley and Jake had asked it now. She might as well clue them in on her speculations.

"Why did you save us?" Riley asked over Jake's shoulder.

The woman paused, gathering her reasons.

"You have a strong heart. No fear." She motioned to Jake and then to Riley, "You See more." She said before glaring at Jake.

"But stupid! Ignorant like a child." She said before turning and storming away, yet she glided through the forest with the grace of a deer.

But Jake was persistent, and Riley was nervous.

"Well, if I'm like a child, then-" he struggled over a root and caught up with her, Riley was close on his heels, trying to avoid the makeshift spear he made. "Then maybe, you should teach us!" He tried to persuade.

"Sky people cannot learn; you do not See." The woman responded, moving gracefully over the terrain.

"Teach us to see things your way. I'm sure the trading of information could be mutually beneficial!" Riley called from behind Jake.

"No one can teach you to See." The woman responded.

The root they stood on gave way to a cliff that had an entire lower level of forest beneath it. It was lucent and dense.

"C'mon... can't we talk?" Jake tried, "Say, where'd you learn to speak English? Dr. Augustine's school?" He began to stumble as his spear caught the edge of a vine.

The woman noticed and grabbed his arm. She was annoyed.

"You are like a baby!" She hissed and released him, "Faysawtute!" She sighed with exasperation.

Jake looked at her, gauging her mood and attempted to ask a little gentler.

"We need your help." He said lowly. Not something many men would admit to a woman.

"You should not be here!" She whispered and made a hand motion at both of them.

"Take us with you." Jake asked a little less gently.

"No! Go back!" She said, her grip on her bow was tight now.

Jake began walking towards her, saying no, when the woman pushed him away.

"Kehe! Go back!" She said a little more forcefully.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped up and focused on some sort of light. Both Riley's and Jake's eyes followed her gaze until they were met with an enchanting display of light and feathery beauty. Seeds, seeds like dandelions and jellyfish descended on Jake.

Riley watched as they settled on him. Her eyes lit up with wonder and reverence. It had to mean something, or maybe they found a good host to grow on? What kind of seeds were they? To her surprise, one landed on her head. And then another on her shoulder. She blew on it, trying to shoo it away, but it only placed itself back on her shoulder with a graceful bounce.

Jake smacked one, causing the woman to snap at him.

"Ftang nga!" She said, "...rutxe-"

Jake smacked another which caused the woman to catch his hand.

"No! Atokirina! ...Atokirina." She said as they engulfed him in light.

A total of three or four had made Riley a temporary resting place. Nearly twice that had settled on Jake.

"What are these... seeds?" Riley asked, a gasp in her throat. They were stunning and delicate creatures.

"Yes. Seeds of the Sacred Tree. Very pure spirits." She said with awe, trying to decipher something in her head, settling with the words; "Lu aungia."

As they floated away, the woman tapped Jake.

"Come."

Artfully, without thinking it, the woman moved through the forest with two stumbling Sky people behind her. One, a recombinant. The other, a misplaced avatar driver. Jake was always easily distracted, touching plants on the way. His eyes were filled with childlike wonder.

The glowing moss was a different color from the teal green glow. It was indigo. Jake chuckled at the beauty of it and the trio continued until Jake asked a question.

"What's your name?"

The thwipping of an airborne object met Riley's ears as she and Jake tumbled to the ground. She landed roughly, her tail was squashed under her legs, it was still a fin. Her back hit soft moss, yet the wind was knocked out of her.

She glanced down and untangled herself, it was handmade. She unsheathed her knife; her instincts had taken over. Years of combat prepared her for being intercepted like this. But in a split second, she sheathed it again, remembering where she was and what she needed to do. Assimilate.

While Jake panicked at the oncoming hoof beats, Riley welcomed it, standing, docile and ready to be taken a prisoner. She was confident that the woman she'd met earlier wouldn't let them be killed so easily.

Jake drew his knife, but Riley grabbed his arm.

"Down, Marine." She warned. She gave him a warning glare.

Jake furrowed his brows with confusion and dropped it, letting himself surrender to the Na'vi warriors that soon had them surrounded. Their faces behind their weapons were unfamiliar and alien. Yet... similar.

The woman dropped to Jake's side, speaking to her kind with annoyance and a commanding tone.

"Mawey, Na'viyä! Mawey!" She snapped, and turned and looked at the men on direhorses, or pa'li.

One decorated man, wearing a thick neckpiece, dismounted his horse and approached with a scowl.

"Ma Tsu'tey, kempe si nga?" The woman questioned. The tension between them was palpable, visual. Not the romantic kind.

The pa'li behind him grunted and shook its mantle-like mane.

"Fayvrrtep fìtsenge lu kxanì." He countered. He clearly was not happy.

"Aungia lolu! Tsahikur txele lu!" The woman retorted with a warning look. The stoic man with the beaded hair and neckpiece glanced at Riley and Jake before turning back around.

"Pot zamunge." He ordered something.

"What's goin' on?" Jake asked.

Riley glanced around at the warriors putting their weapons aside to capture Jake and herself. She let them grab her queue and they began to run after the direhorses.