Story [Avatar] "So I Shall Fall" Tsu'Tey, Neytiri/Sully vignette

?So I Shall Fall?

Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: PG
Time Frame: Scene expansion
Characters: Tsu'Tey, Neytiri/Sully

Summary: She watches the dreamwalker take flight for the first time with a smile that is not completely innocent, a tremble to her hands that is not completely platonic. You watch, and try to pass it off as a trick of your oversuspicious mind.

Notes: I just saw Avatar the other day for the first time, and was immediately swept away by the epic plot and the gorgeous graphics. My muse set pen to paper, and this is the first of her offerings . . . The scene with the banshee bonding was probably my favorite, hands down. (Well, one of them, at least.) And so, here it is from a slightly different point of view . . .

Um, there is an obvious SPOILER warning for this. If you don't want to know, don't read.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine but for the words.

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[i]?So I Shall Fall?
by Mira-Jade[/i]




You watch her with a closer eye than most, tracing over her as she spends her days with the foreigner, teaching him your ways and giving him freely of her time and talents. As the days go on, the somewhat fumbling man starts the slow and painful process of growth until the opportunities to rile, and the occasions to taunt and barb becoming fewer and far between. As the man starts to grow, Neytiri's annoyance with him seems to falter, until soon you wouldn't hesitate to call her almost fond of him.

There is something inside of you that seethes as time goes by, something torrid and burning past the peace and tranquility that your whole world personifies. You do not care for it, and at the same time, you find yourself loathe to part from it.

When you gather the group of initiates for the yearly sojourn to Mons Veritatis you were dismayed, but not surprised, when Eytucan allowed Jake Sully to attempt the ritual. While a part of you was hopeful ? the bonding ritual could prove fatal to those who chose wrong, or did not have the strength of spirit to subdue their mount ? another part of you was uneasy. Neytiri was leaning close to Jake before you set out, no doubt giving him last minute instructions. There was a hope in her eyes over the fear that she no doubt held for his safety. It was a hope that you did not care for.

When you led the group of youths (and Jake) a little quicker than you normally would, taking the hardest path you could think of up through the mountains, a part of you (a part systematically ignored) that said that you were being petty. Another part simply said that you were trying to prove a point. This was not his world. And it would never be. It was yours ? a world that echoed under your feet and sang with the time of your blood pulsing in your veins. It was a song that you were fluent in, one which you did not appreciate this other man even attempting to hear . . .

When he made the journey unharmed ? breathing slightly faster than normal, only, and glaring fire and annoyance ? you pushed down a begrudging respect and set a scowl high on your lips.

When Neytiri stepped onto the clifftop, her Ikran flapping off to wait for her signal, you were careful to school the complete dislike from your voice as you said, ?The pleasure of going first shall go to you, Jake Sully.?

There was pique in the other man's gaze, but he did not argue. Neytiri was quick to show you her own displeasure, her eyes flashing in a warning before she followed Jake under the curtain of falling water to where the Ikran hordes were waiting, screaming their taunts to the skies above. Neytiri was muttering last minute instructions in a quick spill of verse. There was a tension to her words, to the set of her shoulders, and yet there was also a comfort to them as well. Her words soothed the edges of Jake's unease, slaying the tremor to his hands if not completely the hesitance to his step.

The sync that they showed with each other never failed to cause a dissatisfaction deep within you.

When Jake