Chapter Text
EXT. MOUNTAIN TRAIL - DAY
TSU'TEY leads three direhorse riders up the trail -- two TEENAGE HUNTERS and JAKE, who's riding well enough to keep up. The horses' hooves CLOP right next to a sheer drop into a misty canyon.
JAKE (V.O.): Iknimaya translates roughly as stairway to heaven...
"I love that song." An avatar driver said.
"What song?" The scientist next to them asked.
"Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin," They replied.
"Isn't that like a hundred years old?"
"Maybe, but a good song is a good song."
TSU'TEY signals a stop. UP-SLOPE AHEAD is an astounding formation. Thick vine-like trees have trapped large FLOATING BOULDERS of UNOBTANIUM in their gnarled grip. A hundred meters above them more boulders are WOVEN into the twisted vine-trunks. This is some sort of freak natural occurrence -- like the mythical beanstalk, going up into the clouds.
JAKE (V.O): ...learning to ride an ikran, we call them banshees. It's the test every young hunter has to pass. But to do that, you gotta go where the banshees are. Oorah.
"Oorah." Quaritch snorted to himself. Now this was something he knew. He still couldn't believe that Spider managed to convince them to get ikrans AND convinced them to get the ikrans bare-handed like the Na'vi did, though the latter didn't take much convincing admittedly. Ain't no way he was gonna let Sully one up him by doing it that way.
There is a THUNDERING ROAR, like an artillery barrage, and the ground SHAKES. Jake looks around at -- one of the FLOATING MOUNTAINS grinding against the flank of a nearby mesa. A huge rockfall is set loose. The mountain is drifting toward them, filling half the sky.
The Hunters dismount. JAKE looks up at the beanstalk going into the clouds. He turns to Tsu'tey, who is checking the young hunters' gear.
"What? No checking my gear?" Jake joked.
"He did try to leave without you." Neytiri commented.
"You saw that?" He asked.
She nodded, "I saw you set out from Hometree."
Jake leaps to catch up as Tsu'tey and the hunters swarm up the base of the beanstalk.
EXT. BEANSTALK - DAY
200 METERS up the BEANSTALK, the hunters nimbly climb along the vine-trunks. They clamber over one of the unobtanium BOULDERS which is lifting this incredible tree. JAKE looks down -- the massive trunk dwindles to the size of a licorice stick. A chunk breaks off a boulder as he climbs over it -- it floats upward.
They reach the upper branches of the beanstalk. Above them, the craggy underbelly of MONS Veritatis looms. Spray from one of the waterfalls hits them.
Some of the HANGING VINES are brushing over the upper branches of the beanstalk with a crackling hiss.
JAKE: Now what?
One by one the hunters grab onto vines as they pass. Jake shrugs and leaps to a passing vine, his feet dangling over nothingness. They climb toward the floating islands above.
"How do you do that without slipping?" Aonung asked.
"Well you see, we have a lot of upper arm strength and our "skinny" tails help us with balancing." Lo'ak said in a tone indicating that what he was saying was self-evident before Neteyam elbowed him. "Ow! What, I was just telling them how we don't fall."
"You don't have to be rude about it." Came the reply.
EXT. MONS VERITATIS - DAY
TINY FIGURES cross a causeway of vines connecting a small island of unobtanium to the main mass of Mons Veritatis. WIDE SHOT looking down a rock face bigger than Half Dome -- the sheer side of Mons Veritatis. Banshees circle next to the cliffs, flashing in shafts of sunlight. Waterfalls dissolve into nothingness below.
"Wow." One of the western resistance scientists whispered. Their sentiment was shared by all watching, even those who have been to Mons Veritatis before appreciated the sweeping aerial shots that showed off its majesty and its scale compared to everything around it.
EXT. GROTTO/BANSHEE ROOKERY - DAY
A waterfall THUNDERS down into the void like a faucet of the gods. Jake looks down the sheer cliff at the world far below-- a view from Olympus. A SHRIEK and the THWAP THWAP of leathery wings -- Tsu'tey leads them through the cave until they emerge onto a CLIFF FACE. And Jake sees --
The BANSHEE ROOKERY. HUNDREDS of banshees huddle on rock out- croppings as far as the eye can see. They cling to the walls with the fore-claws on their wings, or perch on ledges.
"Look at them all." Rotxo said. The nesting ikran were a sight to behold, that many in one place only happened in rookeries or when enough riders gathered together. All the different colors and patterns was a showcase of the verity within the species and how every rider's bonded ikran was one of a kind.
NEYTIRI'S BANSHEE swoops in to perch at the edge of the grotto. She dismounts, and It waits, docile, as -- She joins Jake and the hunter party. Greeting Tsu'tey. JAKE is out of breath and more tired compared to the others.
"Struggling there a bit?" an avatar driver joked.
Jake shrugged, "I was working on it."
TSU'TEY: Jakesully will go first.
"He wanted me dead." Jake said.
Neytiri padded his knee, "not fully, though I do think he was hoping you'd fail."
Tsu'tey smirks at Jake, a challenge in his eyes. The two teenage Hunters are scared but trying to act tough. Tsu'tey scowls when Neytiri follows Jake out onto the ledge.
NEYTIRI: (WHISPERING) Now you choose your ikran. This you must feel -- inside. If he also chooses you, move quick, like I showed. You will have one chance, Jake.
"One chance? But can't you try again?" Tonowari asked, the Iknimaya for the reef clans involved several different things compared to the forest clans, but he had spoken with enough of them over the years to gain an understanding of the different process they went through.
"You can, but I did not expect Jake to have that option if he were to fail here." Neytiri explained.
JAKE: How will I know if he chooses me?
NEYTIRI: He will try to kill you.
"Not if your Kiri." Spider said.
"I'm just that good." She joked.
JAKE: Outstanding.
Out of sight of Tsu'tey, Neytiri takes his hand and squeezes it. Jake feels a rush of emotion, but she breaks away like it didn't happen. He is on his own, on the ledge with -- The BANSHEES. They eye him as he approaches. Several SHRIEK and take flight. Others flap their wings and yawn, showing rows of fangs, in a threat display.
Jake unrolls a weighted leather strap, like a one-ended BOLO. As he approaches several let out cries and fly off or hiss and back down before finally A LARGE MALE spreads enormous wings, SHRIEKS, and glares straight at him. Jake looks directly into its eyes -- and hisses back, baring his teeth and ears folding back. It responds in kind. THAT ONE.
JAKE: Let's dance.
TSU'TEY: (laughing) (IN NA'VI) That moron's going to die.
"He wanted me dead." Jaked repeated exasperated, making everyone laugh.
The challenged banshee HISSES and leaps at him, jaws wide as-- Jake times the lunge, swinging the bolo, feinting and then slipping aside as the banshee's jaws miss him, SNAPPING SHUT.
"That seems aggressive." One of the Metkayina whispered to their friend.
"Well they are a lot like tsurak." The friend replied, "it'd be weird if they weren't aggressive in someway."
Jake WHAPS the bolo across its snout. The weighted thong whips twice around its long jaws, tying them shut. A MUFFLED SCREAM and it SLASHES at his stomach with razor talons but --
Jake is already leaping, over the talons and tackling the banshee around the neck. It topples on its side, and he SWARMS IT -- arms around its thrashing head.
Jake grabs its whip-like antenna and brings it toward his queue but --
"Almost..." An Omaticaya whispered.
TSU'TEY: Don't be afraid, warrior.
NEYTIRI: Make the bond!
"Opf, he does not look happy at you helping Jake." Hale said.
Mo'at chose to speak up at that moment, "Tsu'tey had many things he needed to work out for himself at the time, but he was a good man, and a good Olo'eyktan for however short a time it was."
The bony head SLAMS sideways, and BAM! -- clocks him right in the face, almost knocking him out and -- IT WRITHES, flinging him to the ground. He slides on the rock and goes over the edge -- but catches himself.
NEYTIRI: Jake!
Tsu'tey laughs and yells mockingly.
"Oh ya, so funny." Jake said with a roll of his eyes.
"He really had it out for you." Max said.
"Tell me about it."
The bolo is coming loose as the creature shakes its head, way pissed off now, but -- Jake scrambles up and leaps straight at it. Claws rake his leg but he gets his arms around its head and CLAMPS DOWN HARD. They flop to the ground and he scrambles on top, pinning it and --
"You almost had it." Saeyla says cheerfully.
Jake lets out a light laugh, "You were there," he points out.
"I was, we betted on how long it would take you. See, there is Ka'ani losing the bet." She responds happily.
NEYTIRI: Tsaheylu, Jake. Tsaheylu. Grabs its whipping antenna, locks it under his arm, and jams the end of his queue into it. They FUSE together and JAKE: Stop! -- The banshee stops struggling. It lies there panting. They are locked together, literally eye to eye.
JAKE: That's right! You're mine.
ECU BANSHEE -- the pupil like a deep black well. Jake relaxes his grip and slowly, warily, slides his leg over the creature's back.
Jake sits astride the creature, feeling its power. He grips a hank of the beast's main, and Neytiri runs to him.
NEYTIRI: First flight seals the bond. You cannot wait. Think fly!
*"You did that to me Eetu." Sena says only mildly irritated.*
*"Did not." Eetu counters, "I pushed you off the rookery without your ikran, you had to call for her."*
JAKE: Fly?
THWAP! THWAP! The banshee is off like a shot. Jake SCREAMS as they PLUMMET off the cliff -- the banshee WAILS and -- They fall together, spiralling out of control, and he is almost tossed lose. The thing is SQUAWKING and SHRIEKING so much he can't think. JAKE: Goddamn!
Many grimaced as they watch the pair fumble through the flight. First flights could be jarring, an ikrans mind was louder then a pa'li's, resulting in some awkwardness at first for the average rider. On top of that Jake didn't have the advantage of tsaheylu being a natural part of life like the native na'vi experience for years before hand. Jake didn't have the time too, so it was fly or die.
They go through a waterfall before hitting the side of the cliff (JAKE: oh, shit!) Jake nearly falls off as they take a sharp turn downwards.
JAKE: Shut up and fly straight!
"I still can't get over the fact that you named your ikran Bob." Norm groans.
"Bob is a great name." Jake defends. "And he likes it."
Hearing Norm's comment the recoms couldn't help but laugh. Sully naming his ride Bob just goes to show that no matter how much he pretends to be one of the natives he was still human on the inside.
"I guessing the wife named the kids?" An RDA higher up joked, making everyone around them laugh; Unbeknownst to the watching Na'vi and resistance.
It levels out. Jake cocks his head, says "bank left" and the animal complies. He settles the banshee into an easy loping beat of its huge wings, while he catches his breath. The other hunters cheer for him before Tsu'tey stops them. NEYTIRI'S BANSHEE falls into formation with him. She signals "follow me" and DIVES.
"Nice" An Aranahe Na'vi says. It was obvious of Jake was a natural talent in the sky, he learned faster than some of the other hunters and was visibly more comfortable on an ikran then he ever did on the back of a pa'li.
Jake guides his banshee clumsily after her. Neytiri's banshee moves with precise movements of its wingtips, while Jake's wobbles and dips, almost falling out of the sky.
THE CAMERA SWOOPS after them as Neytiri leads an arcing DIVE around the flank of Mons Veritatis. The scenery is stunning. They pass waterfalls and swoop between hanging vines. Neytiri leads Jake in a sharp bank, skimming close to the cliffs. They punch through streamers of cloud and emerge into sunlight.
Once again Tsierya felt a spark in her, a need to see it all in person someday. She'd need to remember to ask the Sullys for stories about the forest and mountains after this was over.
Jake is getting the hang of it. He thinks left, then right, then dives, tucking himself tight against the animal's back. Only speaking out loud ever so often. He's reckless, fearless. Half in control and LOVING IT. Neytiri dives next to him as he lets out a long WHOOP of joy.
JAKE (V.O): I may not be much of a horse guy, but I was born to do this.
Lo'ak couldn't help but roll his eyes, That was for sure, he couldn't help but think. Of course his dad was able to do it first try after learning everything in only a few months and be great in the air on top of it. While his Iknimaya went so horribly it resulted in his parents fighting about it and him having to try again a different day. How was seeing any of this going to help them? So far it felt like it was just showing how much Lo'ak was lacking compared to his parents. Well... other then the deal his dad made with Selfridge and Quaritch, that was something he still couldn't believe his dad had done.