To Free a Friend

This is a continuation of my Avatar pieces.  As always, a request/collaboration with MALTIAN

This is a companion piece to

Here the tables are reversed and Marali has been tied down by Unipey and Tarya in order to save their friend Sarah who is trapped inside of their matron. 

~ The blow had come from behind her, it was sudden and completely unexpected.  Marali grunted and collapsed into a heap on the ground, unconsciousness coming almost instantly.  Tarya stood behind her teacher, a crazed look in her eye and a smooth river stone about the size of her fist was clenched in her hand. 

“Tarya! What did you do?!” Unipey blurted out as she ran over to her friend, “You were simply supposed to scare her!”  Tarya dropped the rock, the shock of what she had just done setting in.  Unipey knelt down next to Marali’s limp form and checked her head. 

“I don’t know Unipey, I just… I mean I just wanted to save Sarah,” Tarya mumbled. 

“Well at least you didn’t kill her, I think she is just unconscious, the blow didn’t even break the skin,” Unipey said after removing her fingers from Marali’s neck. 

“Good,” Tarya said as she knelt down next to Unipey.

“What do we do with her now, I mean it going to be hard to interrogate her about Sarah now that she is unconscious,” Unipey said.

“Well first we have to get her out of the street, before someone sees her,” Tarya said as she grabbed under Marali’s arms preparing to lift the Na’vi midwife up off the ground. 

“Where can we take her?” Unipey whispered sharply as she positioned herself between Marali’s legs, ready to lift her lower half.  The two friends grunted in effort as they picked up Marali. 

“Lets take her to the birthing cabin, no one will be there,” Tarya said in between grunts of effort.  Unipey nodded and the two friends started off towards their destination. 

Thankfully the cabin was not too far from the market place where Tarya had confronted Marali.  The two friends stumbled into the hut, the dead weight of their teacher becoming harder and harder to carry.  Unipey was panting and Tarya was sweating profusely from her brow. 

“Put her on the birthing bed,” Tarya said through gritted teeth.  The two lugged Marali’s limp form over to the empty bed and deposited her on its flat surface.  Unipey let out a sigh of relief and collapsed against the bed.  Tarya sucked in a large breath of air and blew it out. 

“Now what?” Unipey inquired. 

“I’m not sure,”Tarya said as she moved over to the series of cabinets and counters on the south wall of the hut, she fumbled around in several drawers before finding what she was looking for, a small container filled with strips of wood dipped in dried Cloversting wax, a rather flammable substance.  Tarya struck one of the strips against the counter and the top of the piece of wood burst into a small bright flame.  She then walked around the room, lighting the candles which sat in their wall sconces. 

“I have an idea,” Tarya said as she whirled around.  She walked over to the bed and put her hands on Marali’s huge round belly.  Her fingers kneaded the soft skin as she felt for the being inside of her teacher.  Almost instantly Tarya could feel Sarah’s energy and the joy full exuberance of the two bright dots of life in her womb.  Tarya’s eyes lit up as she felt her friend inside Marali’s engorged belly. 

“She is still alive Unipey, Marali has not digested her!”   Tarya blurted out to her friend. 

“Great but how do we get her out?” Unipey asked, putting her hand on Marali’s belly to confirm her friend’s observation.  Tarya looked around for a moment, scanning the room for various options.  Then the two heard a muffled cry come from the mound of flesh in front of them.  Though neither of them could make out the words their friend spoke, the tone filled them with a sense of urgency. 

“We have to get her out of there now! Eywa only knows how long it will be before she is digested!” Tarya said frantically. 

“Okay well then we have to cut her out Marali’s stomach,” Unipey said.  “Strap her down to the table incase she wakes up,” Unipey instructed as she moved towards the cabinets to begin organizing the necessary tools.  Tarya proceeded to strap Marali’s limbs down, her wrists together and above her head while her legs were spread apart.  Unipey returned with two trays of instruments which she placed on two folding stools next to the table.  Tarya bent down and placed her head on Marali’s belly, “Don’t worry we are going to get you out,” she whispered to its occupant.  As Tarya whispered to Sarah, Unipey removed Marali’s loan cloth and draped a surgical cover around her belly. 

“Sterilize the area,” Unipey instructed.  Tarya nodded and began washing down Marali’s big belly with soap and water.  Once they had dried Marali’s blue skin, Unipey began to draw out the incision lines on the mound of flesh in front of her. 

Suddenly the two heard the door to the cabin open and Ney'ti waddled in carrying a basket under her arm. 

“What are you two doing?” the elder midwife asked sternly, her multiple chins jiggling as she talked.  Unipey gasped and mumbled something, quickly putting the brush down onto the tray next to her.  Tarya was the one who found her voice first and respond, “Marali ate Sarah and now we have to rescue her.”  Ney’ti’s face screwed up in a mix of confusion and disbelief.  She then waddled towards the birthing table. 

“See it doesn’t seem to me like the human is in her stomach,” Ney’ti responded.  Unipey was surprised that the anger had left the elder Na’vi’s voice entirely.   “See if she were inside of her stomach the balance of weight would be higher, thus the bulge in her stomach would sit up here,” she said indicating a spot right bellow Marali’s ribs with her fat finger.   “I dare say the human is inside her womb, not her stomach.”

Tarya and Unipey stared blankly at Ney’ti both of them taken back by the expertise she had in assessing such a situation.  Ney’ti then turned and moved towards the other side of the room. 

“Also, since the human is in her womb there is no reason to believe she will be digested, which I have to assume has to be the reason you were about to do something so brash and stupid as cutting open your mentor to save a human,” Ney’ti continued.  Unipey looked down at the ground, her cheeks flushing red in embarrassment and shame.  It was true there actions were poorly thought out at best. 

“We just wanted to save her,” Tarya said.

“We were being silly Tarya, lady Ney’ti is right,” Unipey stared, recomposing herself as she went, “we acted brashly, we should have thought more first about our actions, they were out of line.”

Though the two younger Na’vi could not see it a smile was spread across Ney’ti’s face.  She was enjoying toying with the two youth.  It was true that she considered their actions a bit extreme, but she still found them touching and thoughtful in their own way.  She was surprised at their selflessness, especially on a human’s behalf.  Maybe Pandora would be a better place if more of us were so willing to forgive, Ney’ti found herself thinking.  Her mind quickly moved, however, to her formal pupil who was lying unconscious on the birthing bed.  She had been very surprised to see her belly in such a state.  Though Ney’ti understood the allure of carrying life inside of you, she had done it many a time, she figured the addiction had passed over Marali since she had never bore children.  Ney’ti found herself rather interested in this development her former student had undergone, and she would no doubt like to ask her about it later. 

“Well you know girls, all is not lost.  I have an idea, a way we can have a little fun with stuck up Marali here,” Ney’ti said.  The two young Na’vi looked at her quizzically, puzzled both by her sudden change of town and her admission that Marali was a bit stuck up. 

“What do you mean lady Ney’ti?” Tarya asked. 

“Is this a test or a trick?” Unipey asked almost simultaneously.  Ney’ti chuckled heartily. 

“No, no, no trick.  I think we should wake Marali up and you two should pretend like you are going to cut the human out of her.  Scare Marali, she deserves it.  Terrify her enough that she agrees to release the human and there, problem solved and no one gets hurt.”

Tarya and Unipey looked at each other.  “Come on girls, you know it will be fun,” Ney’ti said with a grin.  Tarya had to admit she would greatly enjoy the prank. 

“Are you sure about this?” Unipey asked. 

“Absolutely, it will be good for Marali to be taken down a peg.  Here I will go get the smelling salts,” Ney’ti said as she waddled over towards the cabinets. 

“Come on Unipey, lets do it! I mean Marali has been a real jerk lately, ever since Sarah showed up.  I think Ney’ti is right, its about time someone put her in her place,” Tarya said. 

“I don’t know Tarya, Marali can get really mad and when she is really mad our lives are less then  fun.”

“Sure she will get mad but hey we are not the ones who unbirthed a human, she brought this on herself,” Tarya continued. 

“Yes I suppose so,” Unipey agreed as Ney’ti returned with a small wooden box.  She unclasped the lid of the box and waved it under Maralis nose.  Almost instantly the midwife started to stir. 

“Quickly girls, pick up the scalpel and act like you are about to operate on her,” Ney’ti instructed as she backed away. 

Marali blinked her eyes as the dim room came into focus.  Her head ached tremendously.  She tried to move her hand, to caress her wounded head but she found her hand would not move.  A thick restraint was around her wrist and quickly Marali realized that her whole body was immobilized.  Then she noticed her two students standing above her. 

“What is going on?!” she demanded. 

“We are saving Sarah,” Tarya said. 

“Saving her? What on Pandora are you talking about Tarya?”

“She is inside of your stomach and we have to save her before she is digested.  We know you ate her,” Tarya continued. 

“I did no such thing!”

“Then why are you so fat?!” Tarya continued, raising her voice in anger. 

“I…I just ate a lot,” Marali mumbled. 

“Yes that’s what you said earlier but we all know that isn’t true,” Unipey said darkly. 

“Yes you hate Sarah so you ate her! Against the wishes of Lady  Alyara’s wishes you tried to kill her!” Tarya was getting swept up in the heat of her own words, her anger becoming more real by the second. 

“No I didn’t! I don’t know where that little pest has gotten to!” Marali yelled back. 

“Well fine then, if you will not tell use the truth, then I guess we will just have to go looking for it ourselves,” Unipey said holding up the knife for Marali to see. 

“What in Eywa’s name are you going to do?” Marali asked, panic rising in her voice. 

“What we have to do to save Sarah,” Tarya retorted coldly.  Unipey made a show of dramatically bringing down the knife towards Marali’s engorged belly.  The midwife panicked, she had no desire to be cut open. 

“Stop stop stop!” she screamed.  “Okay! I ate her but then I threw her back up!” Marali said. 

“Well then why are you so fat still?” Tarya responded.

“Because….Because I unbirthed her.  She is in my womb,” Marali finished. 

“Okay, then birth her out or we will cut her out of you,” Tarya continued.  Marali glared up at her pupil. 

“Birth her,” Unipey said threateningly. 

“Fine,” Marali conceded.  She took a big breath and then began pushing Sarah out of her.  Within minutes the poor pregnant girl was laying between Marali’s legs, soaked in Marali’s various juices.  ~

I hope you enjoy,

-SG