Chapter 337 |
Beneath the sacred tree Eywa in the holy land of the Na'vi, Jake Sully—who had just completed the rebirth ritual and fully renounced his human identity to become the leader of the Na'vi—was delivering a speech to his people, preparing to launch a full resistance against the "Sky People."
But just as he was speaking with great passion, a sudden vision flashed through his mind, causing him to instinctively clutch his head.
"What's wrong, Jake?" Neytiri, beside him, quickly stepped forward to ask.
"Damn it! The banshee... I saw a disturbing vision—the banshee is dead!" Jake cursed under his breath.
It turned out that the banshee killed by the primal dragon was the very same one Jake had once tamed.
After the final battle with the humans, Jake had believed that he and the Na'vi no longer needed the banshee, so he had released it back into the wild.
However, the bond between them had not been completely severed. And because the banshee was one of the top creatures on this planet, its connection with Jake remained stronger than most.
So even though it had only been a little over a day since its release, Jake still received fragmented messages from the banshee before its death.
"What? How is that possible?" Neytiri was visibly shocked upon hearing Jake’s words. In the eyes of the jungle-dwelling Na'vi, banshees were totemic beings. Even during the years of human invasion, no human had ever successfully hunted one.
“Don’t let this get out!” Jake whispered to Neytiri as he looked at the crowd.
If word spread that a banshee had died, it could deal a devastating blow to the tribe's morale.
Neytiri nodded in understanding but just as they finished speaking, two Ikran (banshee) riders could be seen descending from the sky in the distance.
“What happened?” Jake asked once the two riders landed and knelt before him.
“Chieftain, it’s the Sky People! The new Sky People released terrifying beasts in the jungle—even banshees and thanators have become their prey! And these new Sky People…they don’t seem to fear our arrows. I clearly pierced one’s armor, but he shot at us as if nothing happened!” one of the shaken riders reported everything he had seen.
“What beasts? I’ve already said—those are just aircraft and mechs, all tools of the Sky People!” Jake frowned, instinctively assuming the rider had mistaken human vehicles for strange beasts—as had happened in the early days when the Na'vi had no contact with humans.
But Sky People who were unharmed even after having their armor pierced?
Jake couldn’t make sense of it.
After all, while this world’s technology was advanced and robots were common, most were oddly shaped industrial machines. Humanoid robots hadn’t developed much, so Jake never even considered that possibility.
“No, Chieftain! Those things really weren’t aircraft—they were actual beasts, very powerful!” the second rider insisted when he saw Jake’s skepticism.
Hearing this, Jake Sully furrowed his brow deeply.
Beasts? What kind of beasts could humans bring? Most Earth animals were near extinction—and even if they weren’t, they couldn’t possibly rival Pandora’s wildlife. They were outmatched in sheer size alone. Plus, Earth’s beasts, like humans, couldn’t adapt to Pandora’s air and environment.
Still, seeing is believing.
Jake decided to investigate in person.
He and Neytiri immediately mounted their banshees and led a squad of riders toward the Sky People’s landing site.
This time, the human base was far from the Na'vi’s location—closer to the coastline—so although Jake remained cautious, he didn’t think the humans could expand their influence so quickly.
Moreover, given the short amount of time since their arrival, he hadn’t had a chance to scout their situation.
But soon after takeoff, Jake realized things were worse than he imagined.
The Na'vi tribal lands and the sacred Eywa tree were located in the core region of the Thunderstone—a place known to humans as the floating Hallelujah Mountains.
Besides being the Na'vi homeland, the Hallelujah Mountains were also the largest gathering place for banshees on Pandora.
Not long after they took to the skies, Jake saw countless banshees flying in flocks toward the outskirts of the mountains. Even higher in the clouds, groups of wild banshees could be seen.
Banshees, which are solitary creatures unless mating, were appearing in organized flocks?
How could this be?
Even during the humans’ largest invasion, such numbers of banshees and thanators were never seen.
What was going on?
“It’s the flying beasts released by the Sky People! They’re attacking the Thunderstone!” the scout rider declared.
What kind of joke was this? Since when could humans unleash such powerful flying beasts? Had Earthlings brought dragons or something?
Jake’s mind raced with wild thoughts.
“Jake, look at the ground!” Neytiri shouted.
Jake followed her gaze and saw that the forest floor was also swarming with native land animals—just like the banshees and thanators, they were all converging in one direction.
“Let’s go see!” Jake didn’t hesitate. With a command, he led the group toward the gathering animals.
…
Elsewhere, General Quaritch sat astride a proto-dragon, gazing at the endless wave of Pandora’s animals rushing toward them, frowning deeply.
The riot of Pandora’s animals had indeed been triggered by the beasts he released.
But not only were Jake and the Na'vi surprised—even he, the cause of all this, was confused.
He had only released a few dinosaurs and some dragons at best. Why did it feel like he had poked a hornet’s nest? Now all the jungle’s wildlife was rioting?
Even in the distant ocean, massive sea beasts could be seen swimming around.
Fortunately, the base hadn’t yet expanded to the sea, so those creatures couldn’t do anything—for now.
Though baffled, Quaritch had no solution.
He had already consulted the scientists aboard the Pioneer Star and the research bots assigned by Josh.
None of them had any answers.
With that in mind, Quaritch couldn’t help but open his communicator to contact Josh.
“Why are you contacting me again so soon? I hope it’s good news!” Josh, playing with a tree branch on the other end, answered immediately.
“Sorry to bother you again, Mr. Kane,” Quaritch apologized as soon as the call connected.
“No worries. What’s the issue?” Josh asked.
“We’ve encountered a small problem…” Quaritch explained everything in detail.
“Animal riot? Interesting,” Josh mused, a look of curiosity appearing on his face. “Could it be…?”
Pandora’s animals rioting in what appeared to be an organized way clearly defied biological logic.
Even though proto-dragons differed somewhat from traditional dragons in human myth, their lineage was even purer than colorless dragons.
They possessed not only magic, but also dragon fear, dragon breath, and more.
So unless it was a top-tier predator like a banshee, most animals would flee from a proto-dragon’s presence. How could they possibly riot?
Yet according to Quaritch, even the smallest reptiles on Pandora now dared to challenge the proto-dragon’s dominance.
Something was clearly wrong.
“Could it be what?” Quaritch pressed when Josh stopped mid-thought.
“Quaritch, do you believe in gods in the universe?” Josh asked with a slight smile.
“…Gods? Mr. Kane, I thought you were an atheist,” Quaritch frowned.
In his view, Josh, who possessed such an abundance of extraordinary technology, should have been a staunch technologist.
"Actually, Quaritch, technology and deities aren't necessarily in opposition…In a way, the proto-dragons I traded to you already don't fall within the category of conventional lifeforms, do they...? So regarding the situation on Pandora, I have a bit of a guess, but it still needs to be verified. I'm sending an advisor to you right now!" Faced with Quaritch’s doubt, Josh didn’t explain, nor did he demonstrate magic to prove his point. Instead, he directly issued a trade request.
Upon hearing Josh mention the proto-dragons, Quaritch couldn’t help but glance at the mount he was currently riding.
It did seem to be the case…
“This is…” And when he saw what Josh had traded over, his eyes widened even further.
Two cow-people?
Hmm, in this context, "cow-people" doesn’t mean incredibly impressive individuals, but humanoid beings with bovine features.
"These are Tauren, intelligent creatures from the same world as the proto-dragons. Treat them well—they’ll help you figure out what's happening on Pandora…Oh, and don’t confuse them with the cattle we know. They actually eat beef themselves!" Josh reminded him.
What Josh had traded to Quaritch were two Tauren from Azeroth—more specifically, two yaks, one a Druid and the other a Shaman.
Josh had once believed that Tauren Druids only came into existence in Azeroth after the Third War, following contact with the Night Elves, when Hamuul Runetotem apprenticed under Malfurion.
However, a few years ago, after Abbendis landed in Northrend, Josh learned from him that this wasn’t the full truth.
Hamuul Runetotem was indeed the first Tauren to join the Cenarion Circle and was the Druidic leader of the Horde. That much was correct.
But he wasn’t the first Tauren Druid.
As far back as the ancient times, the Taurens' ancestors—the Yaungol—had already begun learning the ways of nature from the wild god Cenarius.
It was just that, at the time, Azeroth was crawling with trolls.
The Yaungol grew tired of constant war with the trolls and migrated south to what was then the Mogu Empire. From that point on, they abandoned the path of nature.
However, a small group of Yaungol continued living in the far north of Northrend and evolved into what are now known as the yak-people.
Due to the presence of the Watchers and the Green Dragons, a portion of these yak-people managed to preserve their druidic traditions.
As for why players never seemed to encounter yak Druids when entering Northrend in the game—It’s likely because they were mostly wiped out by the Scourge, trolls, Vrykul, and the Spider Empire.
The same applies to Shamans. Josh used to think that Shamanism was a profession the Orcs brought from Draenor, but in reality, Taurens had already been practicing it since ancient times—and their preservation of the tradition was even more complete than that of the Druids.
Of course, this information was only uncovered after Abbendis arrived in Northrend and made contact with the yak tribes.
Though the yak-people of this era couldn’t be considered especially powerful, their numbers were far more flourishing than the meager handful seen during the Wrath of the Lich King period. According to Abbendis, aside from the Icecrown Glacier and Storm Peaks, yak-people footprints could be found all across Northrend. They were far from rare!