In these days, Jake wss busy with his aerial lessons understanding the top canopy of forests. The wind taught lessons the forest floor never could.
Up in the upper canopy, it was not a background presence but a living force of wind which is unpredictable, sharp-edged, carrying scents and sounds from places Jake could not see. It pressed against his chest when he leapt, tugged at his limbs, tested every assumption he made about balance. Mekari insisted he learn to read it and understand it, not to tame the wind, but as information useful for aerial maneuvers in the future.
"The wind speaks," she said once. "If you try to shout over it, you fall."
Jake learned first by failing.
A sudden gust caught him mid-transition between branches, twisting his body just enough to send him scraping against bark. Pain flared along his ribs, breath tearing from his lungs. He clung there for a long moment, muscles shaking, the drop below yawning wide and merciless. The old instinct surged to lock the muscles and force stability. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed. Long inhale. Slow exhale. He felt the tremor fade, replaced by control. When he moved again, it was deliberate, almost gentle. He climbed down without further incident, heart still racing but mind clear.
Mekari nodded once. That was her way of praise and recognition.
Training expanded beyond movement. Jake learned how to land hard without breaking—rolling across uneven surfaces, dispersing impact through tail and shoulders. He learned how to hang for long periods without exhausting his grip, how to shift weight through bone alignment rather than muscle strain. These lessons resonated deeply with his memories of martial practice and principles that transcended his two lives. The body, regardless of form, obeyed the same truths. Force flowed where structure allowed it. Breath governed his endurance.
At night, Jake practiced breath control alone. He sat on high platforms, legs crossed, eyes half-lidded, feeling the sway beneath him. He counted breaths the way he once counted heartbeats before sparring matches. The forest's sounds layered around him, and beyond them, that vast presence remained of Eywa. He did not seek her. He simply aligned himself, and the connection settled naturally, like a chord resolving. In these moments, he felt peace.
Yet his friendships anchored him to the ground even as he trained above it. Ralu demanded demonstrations, grinning despite himself when Jake showed him safer ways to leap and land. "You're going to grow wings," he joked. Eyna, less amused, tested Jake's focus with quiet questions. "Do you feel different up there?" she asked one evening, watching the sky shift colors. Jake considered before answering. "Not different," he said. "More… exposed and connected to Eywa. It brings me inner peace." She nodded with a satisfied grin that exposure was where truth surfaces.
The elders watched more closely now. Some saw promise. Others saw danger to his life as if he's too early to learn the advanced stages of the Omitikaya clan's practices. Jake did not pretend otherwise. He felt the risk every time he climbed, every time he trusted wind and branch and bone. But he also felt something else, a growing harmony between thought and action. The scientific part of his mind catalouged variables: wind speed, branch flexibility, reaction time, the martial part refined movement. The Na'vi part which isstill forming listened to the forest as a living partner rather than an obstacle.
One afternoon, Mekari took him to the edge of a vast drop, where the canopy fell away into open sky. The ground below was distant, softened by mist.
"Stand," she said simply. Jake did so as she told him.
The wind surged, pressing against him, testing his resolve. Fear flared within him sharp and honest. He acknowledged it, breathed through it, let it inform rather than control him. He did not step forward. He did not retreat. He stood, balanced on the edge between certainty and doubt.
"That is enough," Mekari said after a long silence. "For today."
As Jake descended, muscles aching, spirit humming with exertion, he understood something crucial. Mastery was not about reaching higher and higher without pause. It was about knowing when to stop. When to listen. When to let the wind pass without acting.
Far above, unseen, great wings cut through the sky. Jake did not notice them yet. But Pandora did.
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Next chapter introduces him to the legendary Toruk which he claims in the upcoming chapters. If you are excited, do add this novel to your collections. Comment below and let me know if there are any changes needed to be incorporated in the novel. If you like the writing style, add the novel to your favourites.