Alva pointed at one of the white clouds painted on the blue day sky above where she laid. "That one looks like a cow" She muttered and heard Kida let out a grunt of what she assumed was agreement. "You silly girl, you don't know what a cow is", Alva let out small pearls of giggles and stroked a hand down Kida's head that was resting on her stomach. The dark beast huffed and nuzzled closer to Alva's stomach, the warmth of her skin seeping into the other's.

"That looks like a austrapede. I've never seen one of them before, have you eaten one?" Alva tilted her head as she looked down on her animal companion, her tone questioning and full of mirth. "Of course you have. You're the bestest palulukan out there, the prettiest too", she grinned and tickled the the predator under her chin.

She looked up at the sky again, seeing the darkening of the previously pure white clouds. "I think it's time for me to go back to the hometree before Tsu'tey and the others disappear inside. Will be a pain to find him in there."

Kida looked up at her with wide, sad eyes and whined when the animal felt Alva pull away from their cuddle. Alva leaned down and patted her animal on the head before gently pushing it off her lap and standing up from where she laid on the grassy floor. Her heart ached at the sound but she couldn't stay there looking at the clouds for the rest of her life, and she wanted to dance in the rain after talking to Tsu'tey again. Alva had danced in the rain on Earth but never on Pandora; her brother always made sure to keep her inside during the rain for some reason, and so far it hadn't rained enough to have the effect she wanted.

"I'm sorry girl" She whispered before pulling out a piece of meat she had taken from the chefs of the Omaticaya and throwing it to the animal who was giving her best puppy eyed look. "I'll see you later. Make sure to eat something. Byee" Alva giggled and skipped away from the scene with her little basket swinging in her right hand, humming under her breath as she felt tiny droplets of water falling on her grinning face.

The rain had increased by the time she walked inside the hometree and was now pattering softly on the ground outside the entrance, bringing in a slight chill to the Na'vi crowded together inside the first hollow. Alva panted softly, her hair wet and laying flat against her back and forehead, the few pearls and golden strings she had in it were barely hanging on. She looked around the room; some Na'vi were sitting together in groups, doing their chores or chattering amongst themselves, children ran around playin, hanging in branches and rushing up and down the stairs, but no Tsu'tey. The one Na'vi she currently had to see wasn't there. Alva snickered.

"I knew it" She said. "I knew I should have left earlier." Alva continued, her voice tinkling and barely audible over the loud sounds of the clan around her.

She sighed, shrugged her shoulders and started walking towards the spiralling stairs that led to the first level of hammocks and hollows that were used by many of the different Na'vi professions; such as healers, Mo'at's spiritual sanctuaries and planning rooms. She climbed up the stairs in long, graceful, almost leaping steps. Several Na'vi passed her as she rushed up the stairs, sometimes taking two or more steps a time, but none of them stopped her; none of them even knowing of her secret or suspecting it. To them she was the strange niece of Tru'iel that didn't know the language or ever learnt the Na'vi way.

When she reached the top she had only stumbled once, when a child came running down them and didn't have time to stop properly before falling straight into Alva who was mid-leap at the time. Alva scouted the room, slightly crouched and tail swinging gently behind her before it swung faster when she spotted Tsu'tey sitting on one of the ledges talking to a fellow hunter. The hunter was short, hair shaved in a similar style like that of Tsu'tey and held minimum decorational pieces in it, he also had a plain loincloth, no necklace but a small band on his upper bicep. Tsu'tey hadn't seen her yet, his face relaxed and with the hint of a grin on his lips. Some of his braids were undone and hanging down his back and neck, tempting Alva to touch them.

"" She called out to him, waving her hand and smiling at him. ""

Tsu'tey's head snapped towards her and set in a deep frown before glaring at her. "", he responded and went back to talking to his friend.

"." Alva whined, her eyes pleading with him. "", she put up two fingers as if to show him how little of his time she would steal. Her tail curled around her leg before and ears flickered.

"" He grunted and got up to his feet before walking up to her. "What do you want?", Tsu'tey barked at her, his eyes glaring at her and mouth curled down into his regular scowl. He crossed his arms over his chest and shifted impatiently on his feet.

"I wanna talk in private" Alva replied with a shy grin on her painted lips. "C'mon 'Tey" she smiled and grabbed his arm before leading both of them away from the hammocks and into one of the empty hallows, or rather rooms, on the same floor.

The room she dragged him into was light, the walls covered in different materials that hung from branches like drapes or paintings, and pillows scattered around the clean wooden floor. A thin smoke lingered in the room and a wooden pipe laid on the bigger, red and golden pillow in the center of the circle of pillows. Alva turned around and pulled the green drape to cover the opening of the hallow, giggling as she saw the expression on her best friend's face.

"What do you want, tawtute?" He snarled as soon as she had closed the drape and shielded them from the others. He leaned on one of the walls, arms crossed over his chest and one foot slightly crossed over the others.

"Teach me" She smiled up at him as she plopped down on the pinkest pillow that made a slight tinkling sound from the bells as her weight smushed it. "You can't say no forever"

"How many times does it take for you to understand no?" Her best friend and future teacher barked at her, pushing himself off the floor and stepping towards her in what she assumed was supposed to be threateningly or intimidatingly.

"Until you say yes" Alva giggled and twisted her bracelet around her wrist, looking over the slight tear Kida had made in one of the vines there. "Would it really be so hard to teach me? I'm a good student but terrible at obeying orders", she rubbed her chin in thought before she chuckled and winked at Tsu'tey, who was staring mutely at her with a weird look in his eyes and a tug of his lip.

"Why do you want me to teach so bad?" His accented words flowed out of his mouth like honey, Alva's favorite sweet. His eyes were sharp but not yet glaring at her.

"You're the best" Alva shot back at him, briefly glancing up from her inspection before moving on to her father's ring. "Besides, it's the will of Eywa. So save us both some effort and just say yes."

"I will never teach a demon like you. Eywa would never say that" He snarled at her, his eyes lit with fire and hands clenching by his sides, shaking with anger and rage. Alva narrowed her eyes at her, seeing the slight waver in his glare and the almost invisible tug of his lip.

"I will keep asking until you say yes, you know that right?" Alva giggled and threw a blue pillow decorated with red strings. "Now sit down and we can talk about the terms" She was shocked, as she always was, by how Tsu'tey was the only person that managed to keep her focus and her mind clear. Her eyes were sharp, only a bit of the usual cloudiness or vacancy they usually held with other people.

Reluctantly Tsu'tey sat down, stiffly, on the pillow that she had thrown on him while staring her right in the eyes. "I will not teach you."

"Yes you will" Alva insisted, grinning at the Na'vi. "I will never give up"

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes", she said and dragged out every letter of the word. Her hand shot to the back of her neck before rubbing the aching spot that held the bulky tracker under it. "I think you should know that there's a tracker in my neck", Alva sheepishly admitted, wincing slightly when she pushed one of the more hurting spots.

Tsu'tey shot to his feet, a snarl coming from his curled up lips, ears flat against his shaven skull and tail swinging with deadly calm behind him. "Tracker?", he snarled at her. "You show location of hometree to humans?!" Spittle flew from his mouth as rage built up in his deadly body, tensing every muscle and clenching his jaw. "I should kill you, demon"

"I didn't ask them to do this to me" Alva whispered, a sad smile on her lips as she stared up at the absolutely livid and murderous Na'vi male in front of her. "I would never do this willingly. The Omaticaya is my home, not that cage"

"Why should I trust your words?!" He paced in front of her, steps loaded with anger and hands clenched white. "How do I know you are not planning to kill us!"

Alva sighed, stood up and walked over to where Tsu'tey had momentarily stopped. "Do you want me to prove my loyalty?", she asked him with sparkling eyes but her hands shook as she thought of what she had to do, and the consequences of it.

"How can you prove this?" He asked her, his words thicker and harder to understand the angrier he got.

The dreamwalker winked at him before leaning down and grabbing the knife that was strapped to his thigh. "By doing this." She replied, tapping her neck with the knife and walking back to her pillow before plopping back down on it was if she was not about do to what he thought she was.

Tsu'tey stopped pacing, his muscles relaxing and face dropping. "Alva, no", he warned her, his green, scared eyes glared at her, finger pointing at her. "Do not do this", Tsu'tey spat at her, tail flicking around behind him.

"I have to prove myself, I see that now" Alva replied, massaging the back of her neck before lightly scratching the skin there with the sharp edge. Small beads of red blood rushed out of the shallow scratch, not even touching the thing she wanted out of her body.

She inhaled sharply before digging the knife into her flesh, wincing in the burning pain before the winces turned to shrieks of pain. Blood rushed freely from the wound, coating her neck, hand, knife and pillow in bright crimson that Tsu'tey would never forget the memory of, it would forever be imprinted in his memory. Tears ran from her red eyes like rivers and blood from where she had bitten her lip painted her blue chin red, almost like a war paint some of the tribes used.

Tsu'tey stared at her, stunned and frozen into place at the sight. He wanted to rush to her but his muscles wouldn't move. His body shook and eyes wide, frighten and burning from being open for too long. He couldn't look away from the woman digging into her neck, for him, to prove to him that she wasn't willingly giving up information.

Alva screamed, the sound piercing his ears and making him escape the sight. She sobbed, chest falling and rising with each labored breath before she dug the knife in deeper, finally reaching the tracker they had placed far down. The knife clattered to the floor, spreading droplets of her blood on the floor around it, some of them falling on his feet. Rivers of red liquid fell from her fingers and all around her before she dug her fingers into the burning wound that would leave a jagged scar after it. Alva looked up at him, smiling before screaming one last time as she pulled out the tracker and throwing it at his feet. It was bloody and had tissue attached to it.

"There", she breathed out, smiling brightly at him through the vibrating flashed of hot white pain coursing through her. "Is that proof enough?"

"You are crazy, woman" Tsu'tey's voice trembled as he bent down to grab the small tracker that had led to all of this. It was grey and had a red light blinking. He crushed it in his hand, ignoring the slight sparks burning his hand; it was nothing against the pain it had caused his student. Admiration, pride, surprise and disbelief bloomed in his chest as he stared down at the smiling woman covered in her own blood. How could he possibly deny her after this? After she showed him how brave and strong she is.

"Will you teach this crazy woman?" Alva giggled and scratched her cheek. Her neck was numb but blood was still steadily flowing out of it, not yet fatal but would be a pain in the coming days.

"Yes" He uttered the word, his eyes still wide with surprise and his breaths shocked and shallow. Everything in his shook, his hands more than anything, and he was still sweating from the display. Tsu'tey's heart was racing in his chest, almost painful at this point.