Kapitel 11: reception

The battle had ended, tipping in favor of the Na'Vi. However, the tribe had been almost decimated, from almost 400 Na'Vi, there were now only around 250 left, and that was not the worst of it.

Aleyx after losing the adrenaline from his body, could see the clan's greatest loss, a spirit tree, smaller but similar to the great tree of souls that the Omaticaya communicated with Eywa, was destroyed, its splintered trunk now resting on the ground, the once glowing altar to his ancestors and Eywa, now lay lifeless.

Aleyx watched as the survivors approached the tree crying and shouting into the wind, the worst misfortune that could happen to a tribe was to lose their tree of souls, their whole culture was centered on Eywa and the tree in front of them was their access point to it.

But that was not all.

These trees held the memories of their ancestors, destroying that immediately cut off the Na'Vi tribe's heritage, even if they found another spirit tree, they could communicate with Eywa again, but the voices of their ancestors would be lost forever.

Giving them their space, Aleyx approached his companions, whom he saw near the Hammerheads he had brought with him minutes before.

"Oel ngati Kameie (I see you) brothers."

"When you said you were bringing reinforcements, I didn't think you meant them" Kyuna commented, as she gestured with her hand towards the pack of Hammerheads.

"Well, Eywa gave me a hand," Aleyx commented, evading the subject of his gift.

"What will become of them? They have no home, their Tsahik is dead and most of their warriors are dead, they will be easy prey for other tribes, not to mention the sky people."

"We will accept them into our tribe" replied Aleyx.

"Are you mad? Olo'eyktan won't accept them, besides you can't make that decision on your own" replied Tautey, a friend of Aleyx.

"I wasn't asking them, when we get there, I will tell my father about the situation myself" replied Aleyx.

_____

At the natural entrance of the rocky protection that guarded the Subaiya tribe, a group of 15 Na'Vi stood around the entrance, who were in charge of protecting the entrance and alerting the tribe about a possible attack from another tribe.

Just as one of the Na'Vi was about to return to the tribe, heavy trots were heard from the horizon, an event that put the Na'Vi on guard, scattering and hiding in the large trees to ambush the possible threat.

Fortunately, it was no threat to the tribe, as the Na'Vi acting as guards soon spotted Aleyx, being surrounded by the warriors who left with him several hours ago.

What took them by surprise was that behind them came more Na'Vi walking, over 200 by a quick cursory count, who were pulling their Pa'li, carrying wounded on stretchers made of roots, and old men, women and children being protected by a dozen Na'Vi warriors mounted on Thanator.

That being a peculiar sight, immediately, a Na'Vi guard mounted a Pa'li and headed towards the tribe to alert his Olo'eyktan and the Tsahik.

Aleyx, for his part, spoke to the guards at the entrance, causing them to let the homeless Na'Vi into the tribe, after which Aleyx rode to the rear of the group, where he could see the pack of Hammerheads, who had followed him into the tribe.

Aleyx led the 17 adults and 8 young to a secluded part of the tribe, yet within the protection of the rocky circle, where the Hammerheads would make their new home, waiting for more of their kind to join them in the future.

_____

"What is this about, Aleyx!" was the greeting Aleyx received from his father, who was not happy with the arrival of Na'Vi strangers to his tribe.

"They were attacked by the sky people, I could not leave them, if I had, children, babies and mothers would be dead" replied Aleyx, unperturbed by the anger shown by his father.

"That decision was not yours to make, you did not have the power to bring them here without consulting me or your mother first.

"I will be the next Olo'eyktan, I can..."

"You are not yet! And until you are, you must follow the laws and rules of our tribe, and one of those is that you cannot do what you just did without consulting me first." scolded Sukai harshly to his son, making his point clear, he was not angry at the arrival of the other Na'Vi to the tribe, but because his son did not inform him of his idea.

The system of deciding who would lead the tribe was based on single combat, where a Na'Vi could face the Olo'eyktan, seeking his position, if he saw that the Olo'eyktan was not worthy of the position, which is why the leader of the tribe had to be the best warrior in the tribe, along with a very good line of thinking, to lead the tribe in the best way and at the same time not be a victim of losing his position at the hand of another member of the clan.

It is on this basis that Sukai saw what his son did as an act of rebellion towards his position as leader, making the others see Sukai as weak, which could lead to a member of the tribe wanting to engage in single combat for the position of Olo'eyktan of the tribe.

"I understand father, I will never again make a decision that affects the tribe in any way without informing you first" Aleyx replied, ducking his head and showing respect to his father.

"Jumm, come here" said Sukai, then pulling his son into a tight hug "I'm glad you decided to help a tribe in need, especially that you are well and that nothing has happened to you, you know your mother would be devastated to know that anything bad happened to you".

"I understand" Aleyx replied, still not letting go of his father's embrace.

"Now go, find your mother, and help her with the wounded," said Sukai, releasing his grip on Aleyx.

Aleyx, seeing this, prepared to leave the tent they were in, but before he could leave completely, his father stopped him; "Aleyx, we have a pending conversation about how you got the Angtsik to follow you".

"Of course, father, I'll explain more later".