탄이라

Alaira had deep-seated thoughts of her lineage since she was a toddler. Of course, she was a proud Metkayina and a proud daughter of Tonowari and Ronal. Everybody knows that she is. And also everybody knows- how could they not? That she looked different from others. Unlike most reef people- she had pink skin color, deep pink Eyes, and different body features such as a fish-like tail instead of a paddle-like tail. Everything just looked different from the people she lived with and that was, again, just something she could not hide from the world. Despite how much Ronal and Tonowari had been heartwarming parents, this was not a thing they could help with. After all, they- nor anybody in this Pandora did not exactly know what kind of clan Alaira was born from. Tonowari and Ronal of course, as an Oloeyktan and Tsahik of Metkayina knew “what“sort of clan Alaira was born from and about Alaira‘s birth parents- but that was it.

Alaira knew that she was an adopted child from a very young age. Well- how could she not? She looked different from anybody on this Awa‘atlu nor any other sea Na‘vi’s she’d ever met. From the moment she realized she was adopted- she started to strongly insist on telling her about who was her birth parents and where she had come from. Although Ronal and Tonowari understood Alaira‘s desire to know about her birth lineage, they weren’t so different from Alaira- not knowing much about her original clan- Even as Oloeyktan and Tsahik. The only thing they knew about was that Ro‘a brought Alaira to Awa’atlu (Let alone about the fact that she was even alive through the long journey in the cold water) when she was just an infant, and her clan was destroyed by the sky people- reasons unclear.

After those limited facts about her birth, Her wonders- coming along with undefined loneliness just grew more and more as days and nights passed by.

And that day probably should have been the same as it always had.

But it didn‘t.

Not in a bad way, though, not being any kind of disaster or sky people intruding.

It was a Na‘vi.

Alaira was peacefully floating around the shores, dreaming about how the future would come to her. Will I be a singer or a storyteller? Maybe a healer I could do. Or maybe I would want to be a Tsahik… or Not. No way, Tsireya is a Tsakarem and I don‘t have that talent of leading people. Maybe I could travel through those vast oceans so I could find where I might have lived once…. Then all of a sudden, A loud screech bangs on her eardrums. As she opened her eyes and looked up to the sky- She saw a big Ikran flying above her…. With a Na’vi? Although she only saw the foot of-well-whoever it was, it was clear that they weren‘t a Na’vi of any kind near the ocean. Who could it be? Although she was curious, she wasn‘t a fool- no, not enough to track a stranger alone by herself. She swam back to the land and ran to her parents.

Awatan was never a good hunter.

He had some problems with his visions which gave him some limitations of hunting. Although he had a natural born talent of riding Ikran- and talent of riding Ikran and having an Ikran didn‘t mean it magically gave Awatan another sudden talent of tracking the way. Well- It was a great day, wasn‘t too hot or too cold, with the bright Sun in the sky Awatan thought it could be a great idea to go just a little further….

A second later he was flying in the middle of the ocean, land nowhere to be seen. When he realized he was in “The middle of nowhere”, he wasn‘t so surprised since this wasn’t his first time being in this situation. He just simply thought “Well, again…. This is going to be a long journey.” What he did not know was he was flying in a wholly wrong direction, far-far away from the rainforest.

After the unexpected long flight, Awatan started to feel distraught more and more. Usually, about three days of wandering would‘ve brought him back to Omatikaya, and it has been 4 days since he’s been flying through this endless sky. Now it seriously makes him worried- will I ever make it back to the forest? Even after several days passing by he still couldn‘t find a way back forest, and at that point, he started to lose hope. And all of a sudden- through his blurry vision he saw a silhouette of a land standing straight. In Joy, he steered Tìfin lower to the surface preparing to land. While so, he saw something from the ocean, something pink, something bright… What is that? Possibly an unknown creature? But he lacked the energy to think more about that pink thing- after all, he had to focus his every instinct on surviving if he wanted to live.

Whoosh!

As Tìfin screeched and landed near the shore, He jumped out of his Ikran and sat against the big tree. He was tired, hungry, dehydrated. He did not even have the strength to lift a single finger. The heat from the sun was scorching, he started to feel dizzy. Maybe I should sleep… just a second… Just before he was about to doze off from the tiredness, someone tapped his shoulder and lent a bottle of water to him. Not even thinking twice, he grabbed that bottle and instantly emptied it. After that sweet bottle of water, his mind started to become clearer- clear enough to see the man and other people standing in front of him.

Just by looking at him, Awatan could know that this man was the Oloeyktan of-whatever kind of clan he was from. He was tall, no- Very tall, very solemn looking expression, colorful and fancy garments, tattoos everywhere…. Awatan was quite scared- he looked mad-or at least he didn’t seem so happy about his presence here. And soon came the-probably-Tsahik, Even more looking solemn which just multiplied Awatan‘s fear. As he watched two of them signaling to each other, And also just as he tried to appeal how he didn‘t intend on anything threatening, the man spoke up to him- in a surprisingly soft tone.

“ You seem young. How old are you? ”

“ Um, I‘m fourteen. ”

“ What brings you here? If not wrong, you seem to be one of those forest people. ”

“ I, Uh- I was lost. I thought I almost died and I- ”

“ …Lost? ”

“ Yes, I, uh…. ”

Oh no. Awatan did a double take on what he'd just spoken. After all, what kind of teenager Na’vi couldn‘t even find a way to its home- especially this far? It was now sure this Oloeyktan would see him as suspicious. Now what? Awatan squeezed his eyes shut tight waiting for the trial. But what Awatan unexpectedly heard was-

“ Alaira. ”

“ Yes, Mom. ”

The tsahik opened her mouth to speak,-which Awatan thought, she looked like she‘d never talked to anyone- and called out for her daughter to step out. To his surprise, the girl was not like any kind of Na‘vi Awatan had ever encountered. She was pink, and her tail looked nothing like him, nor like the others standing in front of Awatan. So peculiar that Awatan thought she even looked… Kind of divine.

“ You told us him coming towards this way. ”

“ Yes, Mom. ”

“ Did you see any kind of lies he spoke- from when you first saw him? ”

“ No, He did look wholly tired. That was all. ”

After that, Ronal and Tonowari exchanged silence signals- just then Tonowari spoke up again.

“ Alaira, Since you were the first to see him, You shall teach him how to live here like us- till he finds any kind of way to the forest. ”

Alaira simply nodded with a bright smile. Although Awatan was quite nervous and did not fully understand this whole situation- He tried to stay as calm and polite as he could. As Awatan was visibly nervous, Alaira smiled again and quietly took his hands, then led him to the village.

이 밑으론 아직 쓰는 중이라 유료 걸어놨습니당