Chapter Text
Jake ran as fast as his legs would carry him, Varang wrapped in her mother's shawl to protect her from the smoke clinged tightly to him while her sister, holding his hand, tried to keep up.
The forest was ablaze; he could hear the cries of the mangkwan as they tried to save themselves from the fire, animals of all kinds fled trying to escape the flames and smoke, branches and leaves of all kinds fell from the sky after the fire burned the trees.
The sound of wood breaking under its own weight filled the air, and looking up, he saw a branch rapidly descent above them. He pushed Rang out of reach of the tree and covered Varang with his body; the last thing he felt was an unbearable burning in his back and the voices of Varang and Rang speaking to him. After that, he lost consciousness.
Jake slowly opened his eyes, an unbearable pain coursed through his body; he looked around, he was on the hard ground, Varang sitting hunched over herself, he could hear her sobs.
He tried to look around, but couldn't see Rang. Hearing his movements, Varang got up from her position and crawled over to him.
The little girl took his hand and placed it against her cheek, still wrapped in her mother's shawl, and let out a sob.
"Ma 'Sa'nu," she sobbed, and that was all he needed to understand that the Tsahik no longer walked among them.
The sound of approaching footsteps filled the air and Rang came into view; the older sister took his hand and squeezed it.
"Tsyeyk," the little girl said with tears in her eyes "Tsahik has died"
Varang sobbed harder at her sister's words
Jake tried to stand up, both sisters helped as best they could. Once on his feet, he looked around; wounded and dead were all that remained of the clan. The Olo'eyktan was nowhere to be seen.
"Why, Tsyeyk?" the youngest asked. "Why didn't the Great Mother help us?"
"I don't know, Varang," he said as he hugged her. Rang joined the hug as they watched the warriors return from the entrance of the cave where they had taken refuge.
"When I return to my body," he told them, "the original one, I will get help," he promised.
After that they gazed at the horizon hoping things would get better.
It never happened.
Jake never returned to his original body.
He had hoped that when he slept he would wake up back in Hell's Gate, but the moment never came.
No matter how hard he tried, he always woke up back in his avatar.
The Mangkwan lost hope as time went on; Jake had been a light at the end of the tunnel, but when he continued to awaken in his avatar, all hope died.
Olo' eyktan Zaru was no help either, fearful as he had become, a shell of the warrior he once was, a burden, that's what Jake had called him in a moment of anger and fear.
Those who were less injured had agreed with him.
The Olo' eyktan was filled with fear and dread, constantly looking behind his shoulder, distancing himself from the fire as if it were about to leap from the bonfire and burn him.
Rang was filled with anger: anger against her father for his weakness, anger against her mother for dying, anger against Varang for being nothing more than a shell of what she once was.
Varang.
Jake looked at Varang, who was sitting beside him. Since the fire and death of the Tsahik, Varang had distanced herself from others, just as her father had done with her and her sister.
He offered her a piece of dried meat; there wasn't much to eat after the destruction of the forest, and they had to make do as best they could.
She ate the food offered directly from his hand; Jake could only stroke her head lightly without touching the wound caused by the fall from the tree.
"Ma 'Tsyeyk" spoke a voice behind him.
Jake turned to look at the source of the voice; it was Wukula. He and Jake had begun the first steps of courtship when it all happened; each had distanced themselves to try to take care of their own.
Jake with Rang and Varang, and Wukula with his younger sister Zari.
He patted the ground next to him so his friend would sit down.
Varang shot Wukula a dirty look. After the estrangement from her father and sister, Varang spent her time with Jake. The younger girl didn't like Wukula; perhaps she thought he wanted to take Jake away from her.
"We went hunting, ma 'Tsyeyk," he told him. "I've brought you some fresh meat and some fruit," he said as he handed him the aforementioned items.
"How?" he asked.
"We had to travel far, there wasn't much left of our forest," said Wukula.
Jake nodded and took his knife from its sheath, beginning to peel the fruit. He would give some to Varang and save some for Rang.
Wukula stayed a little longer until Zari returned looking for him.
Jake looked at Varang; she had fallen asleep.
He laid her on the floor and wrapped her in her mother's shawl, He took a headcount of all those present; their numbers had dwindled during the last few days. The most wounded had lost the battle against their injuries and perished.
He gazed at the starry sky; tomorrow would be a new day. He hadn't lost hope that Tommy and the others would return for him, and that way they could help the Mangkwan.
The help never arrived
Jake couldn't understand what had happened. Why hadn't Tommy come for him? Why hadn't Grace tried to find out through the avatar? Had he been so unimportant?
"Eywa has abandoned us," Varang whispered beside him.
Jake looked at her; since everything that had happened, it was as if the younger one had fallen into a cycle of anger. The sadness and emptiness that the younger girl had shown in the previous days was now behind her.
The young girl had shown a huge aversion to Eywa, and many had agreed with her, the younger ones at least; Jake had to agree too.
Olo' eyktan Zaru looked at his youngest daughter upon hearing her words, alarmed by her statements.
"Varang!" he shouted, "Don't you dare slander the great mother!"
"She's telling the truth!" shouted one of the hunters.
Many agreed with the young hunter wich alarmed the few surviving elders and the Olo' eyktan.
"Enough!" he said "Don't they understand? Things happened because they had to happen! It's the wish of the great mother!"
Shouts of anger filled the bonfire at the words of the Olo' eyktan.
"So what? We're supposed to stay here and starve to death? Because that's the 'will' of the great mother?" He asked " Because eywa will provide! Where was eywa when the forest burned? Where was eywa when the Tsahik died? Where is eywa when we are dying?
Shouts echoed through the camp; those who agreed with Jake and Varang and those who agreed with the elders and the Olo' eyktan.
Everything escalated then, the shouting turned into insults and shoving, and the shoving into punches, and before he knew it, the campsite had become a battleground.
Jake saw Olo'eyktan fall to the ground after being tackled by Varang. The younger girl had a dagger in her hands and without the slightest remorse, she plunged it into her father's heart. The camp filled with silence.
But the younger wasn't finished. She turned her father and took his kuru. Jake watched as, with a deft movement, the youngest cut her father's queue.
Jake saw many bow before the younger na'vi; Jake could only hope that Rang was smart enough to leave the camp right then and there.
The shriek of an ikran confirmed what he had hoped for: Rang was gone.
Varang looked at everyone and made eye contact with him, and he bowed his head to her in a sign of respect.
After that, everyone went to sleep, shaken by the events of that night.
That was too the last night that Varang slept cuddled with him before ordering the clan to move to a place with better resources.
Jake could only hope that better things would come.