Jake x Sister! Reader; Omatikaya x Dreamwalker; Tsu’tey x Reader
Chapter VI: Guilty
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Masterlist
Summary: Y/n and Jake Sully. Siblings, shipped off into the depths of space to explore the mysterious world of Pandora.
Jakes POV
Everything is backwards now. Like out there is the true world and in here is the dream. I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am anymore. [Log Entry 87] [Date 08/13/2154]
Quaritch sits down beside me, boots heavy on the floor. "Haven't got lost in the woods have you? Your last report was more than two weeks ago." His voice is casual but his eyes pin me.
"I'm starting to doubt your resolve. Do you even want poor miss Sully back?" his stare sharpens studying my answer in my face.
"Well I see it's time to terminate the mission." He said simply.
"No. I can do this" I said defending myself.
He smirks like he's already won. "You already have. You give me good usable intel. Oh this tree of souls place, yeah i got them by the balls with that, when this turns into a shit fight, which it will. Now it's time to come on in."
"By the way, you gone get your legs and your sister back. Got corporate approval. It's a done deal. I'm a man of my word." he said smirking
Relief should hit but all I feel is a weight on my chest.
"I gotta finish this," I mutter, "There's one more thing. A ceremony, the final stage of becoming a man, then they will finally trust me. If I do it I'm one of them. And i can negotiate the terms of their relocation."
He stands, brushing me off. "Well you better get it done, Corpral."
Back in the shack Grace tugs at my filthy clothes. "When was the last time you took a shower?"
"I don't need a shower." I said laying down ready to go into the body I've grown to become familiar with.
"Jesus, Marine..."
"I'll meet you on the other side. With Y/n." I close the pod.
With that, I was off into a world that I now called my own.
Darkness.
"Jake! Wake up!" Neytiri screams, shaking me awake.
Her eyes wide, her voice breaking. And then I hear it, the grinding roar. The dozer. Quaritch didn't wait. I should've known.
The forest trembles as the machine chews it's way forward.
"Stop! Stop!" I yell climbing the beast, smashing the camera lens. I hear Neytiri's cries behind me.
Gunfire cracks. Soldiers on the rear, Neytiri and I stumble as we run further into the forest.
Behind me, Y/n's voice cuts through, raw and terrified. I can't look back. Not now. I run toward a safer place.
Hometree.
Warriors gathered like thunderclouds. Weapons pointed up in the air, war chants filling the usually peaceful atmosphere. Tsu'tey's fury cutting through the chants.
Grace and Y/n in the crowd, out of place their faces pleading.
"Tsu'tey don't do this." I yelled over the crowd of ululations.
"Listen. Brother--" He pushes me to the floor, the chants of the Na'vi filling the air.
"You mated with this woman?" Tsu'tey spits, shoving me to the ground.
Gasps fill the air. Faces of disgust look down at me. Y/n looks on with guilt and pity whispering something frantic in Graces ears.
"Oh shit..." I hear Grace mutters.
I pick myself off of the ground. "Is this true?" Mo'at's voice cuts through the murmurs of the people.
Neytiri lifts her head up, proud. "We are mated before Eywa, it is done."
Tsu'tey freezes, jaw tightens as he gives Neytiri a look then he turns away sharply. "Brother please... do not attack the sky people. Many Omaticaya will die"
He whirls around to face me, the Na'vi forming a circle around us.
"You are not my brother!" he says as he un-sheaths his knife and attacks me,
I meet him, blade raised. "And I'm not your enemy! The real enemy is out there, and they're strong as hell! I can talk to them."
"No more talk!" He lunges. Neytiri screams. I block, stumble, the taste of blood on my lip as he wipes his own mouth.
"I am Omatikaya. I am one of you. I have the right to speak,"
Suddenly. Grace goes limp. Gasps fill the crowd as Y/n lunges catching her, her eyes wide and terrified.
"Jake..." she whispers, lowering Grace gently to the ground, shaking.
"Oh no. Look I was sent to–"
Darkness.
I wake to Quaritch and his men looming, guns trained on me.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" I spit as I sit up.
"You crossed the line." he says flatly. Punch. Darkness.
I wake to a footage of me destroying the camera on the massive dozer earlier that day. "You let me down son" Quaritch says as he pauses the evidence.
"So what, you find yourself some local tail and just completely forget what team you're playing for?" he says leaning down his smirk not reaching his eyes.
"Parker, there is time to salvage the situation, where is Y/n--" Grarce interrupts. "Shut your pie hole!" Quaritch yells interrupting her rant.
Their argument fades to background noise. My chest pounds, mind racing thinking about Neytiri, Y/n and how she must be handling the entire thing alone.
Suddenly I snap out of it, a sense of pride in my words, "You say you wanna keep your people alive? You start by listening to her" I nod toward Grace.
"It's a network," she says firmly/ "Electrocommunication. Sacred. If you want to share this world... you need to understand them."
"I'd say we understand them just fine. Thanks to Jake here." Quaritch cues another one of my logs.
"Doc, come take a look at this."
My own words betray me, "They're not gonna give up their home. They're not gonna make a deal. For what? For lite beer? And blue jeans? There's nothing that we have that they want. Everything they said to me out here to do is a waste of time. They're never gonna leave hometree." [Log Entry 87]
"So,no deal. Simple." Quaritch smirks.
The log that I had made just hours earlier was being played for everyone in the room to witness, once a confession of how I felt now used as a testimony to the evidence in their own case.
The log twists my thoughts into chains.
With new found failure lingering in the air, Grace and I left the room, going back to where we had previously been, with the researchers and doctors.
Wandering into the room the noticeable absense of our personal pods gone, just standard issued ones, the doctors packing the things in the lab into boxes.
The RDA's winning. My connection to the people, to Y/n, is slipping away and I'm the cause of it.
Turning around at the sound of footsteps I turn around to see Trudy, "Quaritch is rolling the gun ships,"
"He's hitting hometree."
Grace bolts. I scramble after her. She's already yelling at Selfridge.
"You don't want that blood on your hands! Give me a chance, they trust me." I reason with him.
Self ride hesitates. A single nod.
"Calibrate fast. We're going in. Now." Grace commands
This was my one and only chance to get it right, and to convince everyone to leave , to catch Y/n on and hope that no one hates me in the process.
"One hour. Get your twin and your girl out before the ax falls. " he says, slamming the pod shut on me.
Darkness.
"Jake..." Y/n. I immediately open my eyes and sit up seeing her in the room with me, her face close.
"What's happening? Tell me." her voice cracks.
"Jake Tsu'tey won't--" she pleads frantic. I open my mouth to answer but Neytiri storms through the flaps of the kelku and her eyes immediately land on me.
"You must explain yourself. Come"
Y/n looks expectandley at me, when I don't say anything she just shakes her head, like she knew this would happen, and takes a step back away me.
I leave her. Neytiri drags me forward.
She stays there, looking down at the floor as Neytiri leads me down the stairs to where the leaders have congrigated.
At the base she calls, "Father! Mother!"
I square my shoulders, "Eytukan, I have something to say."
"Speak, Jakesully." he commands.
In the corner of my eye I see Y/n coming down the stairs slowly, her usual confident and charastmastic demeanor shifted.
"A great evil is upon us. Sky people are coming to destroy Hometree."
The Na'vi roar, raising their weapons in the air.
Frustrated I yell, "You have to leave or you'll die." I plead.
"Are you certain of this?" Mo'at asks her usually calm demeanor now cracked fear showing in her voice.
Every gaze pins me. Y/n edges closer, silent beside Grace.
I breathe. "Look they sent me here to learn you ways. So one day I could bring this message and you'll believe it."
Neytiri turns to fully look at me. "You knew this would happen?"
"Yes. Look at first it was just orders for the safety of Y/n's human body, they promised me she would be safe and come back... I wanted my sister back."
Y/n lowers her head. I feel a pang of guilt twisting in my chest, she hates what I've done, and I can't blame her."
"And then... I fell in love. With the forest. With your people. With you." I grab Neytiri's shoudlers.
"I trusted you..." swatting my hand off of my shoulders taking a step back from me.
"I trusted you! Stop it! You are not Na'vi!" she shoves me, tears scalding on her face. Voice jagged.
"You will never be one of The People!"
"Neytiri please, please!" I beg. She storms away.
"Bind them." Eytukan orders.
Hands pin me down. Grace fights. "You have to go!"
"Jake... what did you do?" Y/n stars at me as hands pin her to the floor, as they bind her hands bind her back.
Struggling against the hands she yells, "Goddammit Jake. Tell me! You've been tiptoeing around this, now shit has hit the fan and you're still not telling me." her anger evident in her voice.
"Y/n... I did this for you!" the warriors drag us toward a pole to bind us.
"Did what? Sold these people out to the RDA?" she hisses at me.
"I did what I needed to do to keep you alive. Your human body is dying Y/n. You would be dead without their help!"
She stays quiet as I say the last sentence, her anger subsiding into defeat.
Before I could say anything back to Y/n Grace cut me off.
"They're coming!" Grace shouts. The Omatikaya roar defensively.
Gunships whip the air.
War is coming.
"Run!" I yell
"They're coming!" Grace warns
Our warning fall upon deaf ears as Tsu'tey encourages The People in Na'vi.
The wind from the propellers of the gunship take the Na'vi by surprise as the flora blows in all different directions. Braids flowing as the na'vi cover themselves from the harsh winds.
"Run! Move! Get out of here before it all comes down! " I yell at them as the Olo'eytkan commands Tsu'tey and the warriors to do something.
"Tsu'tey! you have to warn them! Go into the forest, get away from here!" I hear Y/n yell from besides me.
Tsu'tey shoots her a look, the very same one that he had given us the first time we had arrived. Hatred.
"Ma--" the yell of the warrior leader cuts through the air cutting Y/n off as they yip and climb the hometree. The leader paying no mind to the words she had just said.
Without warning they released smoke bombs, they're clearing the people from the hometree, a warning.
Then suddenly, they fired.
The base of the hometree lit on fire as the omatikaya retreat into the forest, the sounds of mourning filled the air around us.
Glancing around at the destruction infront of us.
The look on Neytiri's face as she left us there, traitors.
The smell of smoke overtaking my senses.
The heat from the hometree burning down right infront of us.
The muffled sounds of screaming and sobs coming from all around.
I came to, to the sounds of Y/n beginning for the mothership to stop, her cries soft and to herself. Her braids covering whipping her face as she thrashes in her restraints.
Mo'at emerges from the smoke approaches, knife in hand. "If you are one of us, help us." She says cutting the restraints off of me.
I pull Grace and Y/n free as we sprint into the forest.
The earth trembles.
Explosions rock the ground. Y/n flung aside hands to her head stumbling. I call to her, lost in the smoke and chaos.
The forest seems to quieten down momentarily.
Suddenly--
The sound of the Hometree creaking fill the forest.
Screams erupt.
Everyone scrambles to get out of the way of the falling tree.
A loud rumble shakes the floor beneath us as something hits the ground loudly.
Hometree has fallen.
The screams of horror from the Na'vi surround me as I run toward the only person on my mind right now, Neytiri.
As I run past the sounds of mourning fill the forest as the sounds of the choppers and ships make their way out of the forest.
I reach her, finding her crouched next to the olo'eyktan, "I'm sorry..."
"Get away. Get away from here! Never come back." she screams pushing me off.
I walk through the ruined forest. Birds silenced. Mourning everywhere.
My betrayal to the RDA, the People. Y/n, swallows me whole.
Darkness.
Times up.
I was a warrior who dreamed he could bring peace. Sooner or later though you always have to wake up.
okay okayyy Jake pov or wtv, next is Y/n or wtv. like girl wtv. i was getting so emotional thinking about what Y/n will go through... ayyye stick around for that
omg, yall fr care about me frrrrr💗🫦. No guys i’m gen doing okay, it’s just this year is like EXAMS EXAMS EXAMS and so every time i try to even write a paragraph i start doing math equations on there😭😭
i miss writing too icl, it was such a stress reliever. Being a senior is NOT for the weak
bored, saw this on tiktok. My Omatikaya 2009 OC i guess
Before the war (singer up there with Ninat cause she ain’t a nobody🤷♀️) -> during the war -> after the war(mourning the loss of their home, never sings again.)
Neytiri x daughetr!Reader; Jake x daughter!Reader; Sully Family x Child!Reader
Chapter 5: The Hunt
Masterlist
Previous: [prologue] [pt1] [pt2] [pt3] [previous]
Summary: Despite leaving their homeland, Y/n holds onto her mother's values. However, tragedy strikes with Neteyam's death, shattering Y/n's innocence and sparking a raging fury within her, forever changing her carefree spirit
My Spirit sister and her baby, have been murdered by the Sky People! This war has come to us, we knew about this hunting of our tulkun people. But it was over the horizon, far away.
Now, it is here!
"No... no! You gotta understand how the sky people think," Dad says, trying to force calm into the storm of voices. "They don't care about the great balance."
"We don't answer to sky people!" someone yells back.
The whole crowd erupts. Anger rolls through the clan like a wave, deep and loud. I inch closer to my mother's side, my fingers brushing her arm. The air is full of shouting, pride and hurt all mixing together.
"Listen. Listen to him," Neteyam says as he steps forward.
The yips and cheers fade down to quiet murmurs.
"The sky people are not gonna stop. This is only the beginning." Dad says, taking the little bit of calm Neteyam created and holding onto it. "You gotta tell your tulkun to leave!"
Silence.
"Leave?" Ronal spits, her voice sharp enough to cut through stone. "You live among us and your learn nothing!"
Her eyes burn on my dad, anger and grief braided together.
"We will fight to protect our brothers and sisters!"
That sets everyone off again, voices crashing, people shoving forward.
"If you attack, if you fight. Then they will destroy you." Dad's voice rises above them, desperate. "They will destroy everything you love." his hand moves towards Ronal's bump, the curve of new life she carries.
The clan reacts instantly, the threat of someone so vulnerable at the hands of sky people igniting a spark.
"We will fight!"
"Listen to me!"
"Fight for our land!"
"Listen to my father!" Neteyam shouts, frustration in his voice.
Dad snatches the device Neteyam has been holding onto the whole time. Lifting it up for the whole clan to see.
The movement slices through the noise, silence spreads across the clan.
"Tell the tulkun," Dad says, holding up the metal thing so everyone can see, "That if they're hit by one of these they're marked for death."
I grip my mothers arm tightly at the news of how simple it was for the sky people to destroy life.
"Call for me," he says, sweeping the crowd. "I'll silence it. Saving their lives, that's what matters. Right?"
His gaze lands on Tonowari.
He lifts his chin, the whole clan waiting on what their leader says.
"Tell the tulkun."
"I wish I'd been there. The ocean blessed you with a gift, brother."
"Kiri shh-" I say trying to grasp the story that Lo'ak is telling us. We sit in a circle with the Metkayina children, listening. From Aonung and the other boys leading him outside of the reef, to him nearly meeting Eywa to him getting saved by a Tulkun.
"The tulkun have not returned yet. And anyway no tulkun is ever alone." Aonung states with a shrug, his tone clearly showed that he didn't belive Lo'ak.
"Well this one was," Lo'ak says, his voice tight. "He had a... missing fin. Like a stump on the left side."
"Payakan." Tsireya mutters, almost to herself.
I glance at Neteyam. He's just as confused as me, shaking his head, trying to figure out how this fits together.
"Who's Payakan?" Kiri asks.
"A young bull who went rogue. He's outcast. Alone." Rotxo finally says.
"They say he's a killer..." Tsireya warned, gripping Lo'ak's arm.
"No..no." He said, removing her hand.
"He killed Na'vi, and other tulkun." Aonung finishes.
"No. He's no killer..." Lo'ak shakes his head, his chest rising and falling with anger.
"Lo'ak, you're lucky to be alive." Tsireya says.
"I'm telling you guys. He saved my life." Lo'ak insists. But the look on everyones faces say otherwise, "He's my friend."
Neteyam finally stands up after staying silent a long moment. "My baby bro! The Mighty Warrior who faced the killer tulkun and lived to tell about it, huh?" he teases.
Lo'ak angrily shrugs him off, "You guys aren't listening."
Tuk softly says, "Lo'ak, I'm listening." But he just stormed off, legs moving fast over the sand.
"Lo'ak! Come back!" Kiri called
We all watch in silence as he walked away and toward the beach, calling an ilu and disappearing into the shimmering water.
They started talking about visiting the Metkayina's version of the Cove of Ancestors but I can't. It just doesn't feel right seeing my ancestors in someone else's land.
"If Payakan is such a killer why would he bring Lo'ak back into the reef barrier?" I ask Tsireya as we stand to leave.
"Y/n we, the Metkayina, were taught this. It was a tragedy in the south." Aonung warned walking away without looking back
I roll my eyes walking toward our mauri, "That's probably what other Na'vi told mom when meeting dad... but guess what? Eywa allowed it." I said to myself.
I enter the mauri and see sa'nok making lìngpay, food for dinner, humming a tune softly to herself.
She doesn't even look up when she asks, "Ma'ite, why are you not out there with the others?"
I shrug fiddling with the edge of my loincloth. "They're going to the cove of ancestors."
Finally she lifts her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. She gestures for me to come closer. "And you do not wish to see the ancestors?"
I shake my head. "Not here, not now," I sigh kneeling beside her, "Maybe once we go home."
She watches me for a moment, like she can see through all the things I'm not saying. "The ancestors are everywhere ma'ite," she says gently. "Even here."
"Maybe," I mutter, "but the ones who know me aren't in the water."
She pauses. Something flickers across her face, understanding? sadness? maybe even a hint of agreement. Sa'nok was forest first. I think she still is.
I start helping her pick scales off the fish she's preparing.
"Hypothetically," I say, trying to keep my voice casual. "What would you do if a whole clan doesn't trust someone for something you know they haven't done?"
I see her jaw tighten, ever so slightly. "People fear what they do not understand. Even I do."
"Yeah," I whisper. "That's what they said about dad too, right? When you first met him?"
She looks sharply at me, surprised. Then softens. "Eywa brought your father to me for a reason."
"And maybe..." I say thinking of Lo'ak's face, when he said that Payakan had saved him, "...maybe Eywa brought him to Lo'ak too." I whisper to myself.
She reaches for my songcord, a quiet gesture. "Who has Eywa brought into your brothers life Ma'ite?"
I shake my head, "He met this tulk--"
"Mom! Mom!" Neteyam bursts in, cutting me off.
"It's Kiri." he says, breathless.
The Sully household had been up early to in with Kiri. Dad had told us as a family not to go to the Cove of Ancestors because of what had happened to her.
"Because Sully's..."
"Stick together!" we all said in unison, holding Kiri's hand as she tries to weave a bead into Tuk's hair.
Suddnely, the sound of a conch blasts through the air. We all run outside to see what's happening.
"What's going on?" Dad asks.
The members of the clan rush toward the ocean, excitement making their movements sharp, precise.
"The tulkun have returned! Everybody our brothers and sisters have returned!"
I looked out over the water and see them. A massive herd of tulkuns, breaking the surface moving with power and grace toward the village.
I ran toward them, bouncing with each step.
The joyous sounds of the Metkayina fill the air, voices high with yips and cheers.
"I see you!"
"Sister!"
The yips rise, echoing across the waves as everyone swims toward their tulkuns.
In their endless cycle of migration, the tulkun had come home.
I turn to see my family making their way to the water, eyes wide with wonder and awe.
Even underwater, the tulkun are beautiful, bigger than I imagined moving like the ocean itself as clicks filled the air, ones that only translated to their respective Na'vi's.
We play. The Metkayina and the tulkun allow us, to interact with a part of them Eywa had chosen.
It was a time for stories, of their season apart. Of deaths, of births. Old friends, and new loves.
Silence. The waves crashing too loud.
Cries pierce the air.
"What is this Tonowari? What is this!"
"She was my Spirit sister!"
I spin around, looking for Lo'ak as the clan sails off to warn their tulkuns of the dangers ahead. Neteyam and Lo'ak stand near ilu's, faces tense. I walk over to them trying to stay out of the way but close enough to hear.
"No way you're rolling out of here baby brother." Neteyam says stepping toward him.
"I have to warn Payakan about the pingers."
"No. You've got to keep your skxwang ass here."
"He's outcast. Theres nobody to warn him but me!"
"Bro, why do you always have to make things so hard," Neteyam jokes, but Lo'ak isn't laughing.
Lo'ak shrugs off his hand. "You mean why can't I be the perfect son like you? The perfect little soldier. Well I'm not you!"
"Okay? I'm not you! He's my brother. I'm going."
"Oh, he's your brother? No! I'm your brother."
From the corner of my eyes, I saw the Metkayina kids gliding on their ilu's toward us. I wave my hand sharply for them to be quiet.
"Get off me!" Lo'ak shouts, shoving Neteyam before diving straight into the water. His ilu rushes under him.
"Lo'ak!"
"Come back!" Tsireya yelled.
"Come on, he's going to Payakan!"
Everyone scrambles for their mounts. I take a small running jump forward.
"Reya!" I shout.
Tsireya swimgs her ilu sideways so I can grab on behind her. My fingers latch onto her shoulders, and we take off after Lo'ak.
We swim across the water, and Kiri and Tuk suddenly ride in from somewhere on Kiri's ilu. "Kiri! Tuk! Come!" I call breath catching as we chase Lo'ak.
"Lo'ak come back!"
A deep and heavy wail shakes the waters.
Payakan.
We leap off the ilu and climb onto his massive side, fingers slipping on wet skin as we scramble to the pinger. It's jammed deep. Everyone pulls, grunts, strains.
A sharp, low mechanical hum reaches my ears. I snap my head up.
"Hurry! There's a ship coming!"
The words explode panic across all our faces. The pinger is wedged too far into him.
"Call it in. Hurry, tell dad." Neteyam orders Lo'ak.
Lo'ak fumbles with his earpiece. "Dad-- I mean devil dog do you read? We're with a tulkun that's under attack." he says into the ear piece. "Killer ships inbound we're about two klicks out."
A pause.
"It's all of us, Aonung, Rotxo and Tsireya too. We're at three brothers rocks." Lo'ak suddenly says.
"Yes sir." he said replying to something.
"It's getting closer!" I shout again.
I scramble back onto the ilu Tsireya and I came on, my heart pounding as they tied the pinger onto Neteyam's ilu and pulled on it.
Snap.
The pinger finally rips out of Payakan.
"Go! Go! Everyone away from it now!"
We dive into the water. A boom rips the ocean behind us, shaking Tsireya's ilu underneath me. I cling to her arm desperately as we rush toward the others.
Everyone is hiding, everyone besides Neteyam who had taken the pinger and seperated from us.
Small dark shapes fall into the water from the ship.
Machines.
We swim through the kelp forest, the machines chasing us. The ilu moves so fast that I have to grip onto Tsireya even tighter, having nothing to hold onto but her.
A thunk knocks us off of the ilu, a flotation pinger.
Tsireya grabs my hand before I can get flung too far away from her as Lo'ak dives in on his ilu, dragging us away. But the weight of all three of us slowls the ilu down.
We slip off and hide in the kelp, watching as the ilu darts away. The machine following closely behind it.
My throat starts to close, panic washing over me. I tap my throat, struggling for airr. Tsireya quickly leads us to an air pocket inside of a plant.
"Tuk!" Lo'ak and I shout at the same time after surfacing.
"Are you alright? Where's Kiri?" I ask my voice echoing weirdly in the plant.
"I don't know.." Tuk gasps.
We all fall silent, listening.
"It is coming!" Tsireya whsipers, warning us.
"We gotta go." Lo'ak says, we all take a deep breathe in.
We dive back into the water, just in time to see two machines coming towards us.
Then
A net surrounds my vision, I look around frantically to see Tuk and Tsireya are caught too. Lo'ak slips out just before it closes.
We're yanked upward, the ocean below us as an ikran lifts us higher and higher. The dream walkers, the same forest ones, capturing us.
I let out a scream as I claw at the net. Tsireya and Tuk are yelling too, fightning tangled.
We're dropped onto the metal deck of the ship. Stumbling out of the net with the others.
"Drop the weapon!" a dream walker shouts at Lo'ak. He's holding his knife toward them.
A dream walker grabs my arm before I can reach for my tsal. He yanks me down, slamming me onto the cold metal. His boot crushing into my stomach.
"Let me go! You demon!" I thrash, trying to pry his boot off of me.
I watch as Tuk fights a dreamwalker too, her Metkayina knife knocked from her hand as she hits the floor. Tsireya is still tangled in the net, struggling like she's drowning in it as a dreamwalker tries to restrain her too. Lo'ak is pinned like me but on his back.
The sounds of sky people yelling grabs my attention.
"Hey! Hey what are you doing stop. Don't hurt them!" Spider yells.
He tries to move toward us but gets grabbed and shoved by two soldiers.
I clawed at the leg that was keeping me down, "Stop it you little shit!" He said grabbing my my arms and pinning them down, I hissed at him.
I look over to see Spider and Lo'ak talking hurridly as they're restrained.
Quaritch drops from his ikran, boots slamming onto the deck. "Keep him there." he orders his soldiers. Then turns to us.
The dream walker keeping Lo'ak down lifted him up, "Yeah. I remember you."
"Cuff em to the rail. All of 'em."
Hands grab me under the arms and sling me between Tuk and Tsireya. I growl but I can't break free.
"Be brave." Lo'ak says.
Yips and ululation echo from the water. I squint my eyes to see.
The Metkayina warriors.
"Na'vi inbound!"
"Spread out! Weapons up!"
"Dad!" Tuk screams. I looked at the clan and see dad in the front along side Tonowari and Ronal.
Quaritch rips off Lo'ak's earpiece. "Jake, tell your friends to stand down. You want your kids back, you come out alone!"
My stomach twists. I shake my head even through dad can't see.
"You know better than to test my resolve," Quaritch finishes.
Tsireya chokes out, "Lo'ak no."
I turn to see why. Quaritch is pressing a gun against Lo'ak's head.
I growled as I turned to look back at the Na'vi in the horizon, I didn't want to see what was happening.
"I took you under my wing Jake," he started, "You betrayed me. You killed your own people. Good men, good women. I will not hesitate to execute your kid."
Silence.
I looked at the Na'vi on the water.
They're weapons had lowered. I let out a breath. They won't fight, not now.
"What's it gonna be?" Quaritch demands.
Dad moves across the water, alone.
"Easy shot." a soldier mutters.
"You hit em now and they'll attack. Wait until he's on board."
Only the sounds of the ocean can be heard as we watch as my dad surrenders. The skimwing he was on slowly gliding up to the boat.
Suddenly, the sea explodes upward.
"Payakan!"
The whole ship violently shakes when Payakan slams down on it. The impact so hard it rattles in my bones. I lose my footing for a second barely catching onto my restraints that i wanted to remove oh so badly before.
"Hold on!" Lo'ak yells.
I don't need him to say it. My hands are already clenched so tightly they hurt. Everything around us is screaming, metal, peoples, guns as they started shooting at Payakan.
Bright blasts fly across the air, loud and sharp, too close, I duck my head even though there's no where to hide.
Payakan swings his tail across the deck, and bodies go with it. Sky people fly. Some hit the railing, some disappear over the edge. I see Lo'ak move out of the corner of my eye, he kicks one of them straight into Payakan's wing. I hear the sound when it hits. That must hurt.
I look away from him, everything's wrong.
I yank at my restraints, pulling hard, then harder, then using my teeth because my hands weren't strong enough. I growl at the restraints, my jaw aches. They won't break.
We need to move. We need to go.
The sounds around me gunfire, shouting, metal ripping make it worse, make my skin feel too tight. It hurts.
Then I hear it.
The ululating sound cuts through everything, close and loud, and my head snaps up before I even think about it.
Payakan dives back into the sea, and past the edge of the ship I see Dad and the Metkayina charging in. They move together, tast, and then they all dive under as bullets rip into the water where they just were.
As chaos erupted around us I tugged at my restraints, using my teeth to try and remove them. Growling in frustration at my attempts not working. The sounds of destruction adding to my want to be freed from the rail.
The sudden ululating creeping closer got me looking up from the work i was doing as Payakan finally dove into the see, I saw dad and the metkayina charging toward the ship.
They all suddenly dove into the water as the bullets from the weapons they had started blasting.
"Sully's inbound! I want eyes on!"
Looking up, my neck craning, and that's when I see Mom on her ikran.
She's already moving, already pulling her bow, and then a helicopter goes down under her arrows. It spins and crashes, fire blooming out of it.
"Mom!" I yell, my chest tight, and she ululates in reply, sharp and fierce, like she won.
Skimwings burst out of the water around the ship as Metkayina warriors attack, and my heart starts pounding harder. Everything feels close. Too close. I pull at my restraints again, harder now, because everyone else is moving and I'm not.
"Y/n! Relax!" Lo'ak shouts.
I huff at him, angry and breathless, and bite at the restraints again. Relaxing is stupid. Relaxing doesn't get me off the rail.
Then the ship suddenly lurches forward.
The ground tilts and my stomach drops, and for a second it feels like I'm floating.
I grab the railing without thinking, the same railing I wanted gone, and hold on as the ship surges ahead. I look around to everyone in the air, faces frozen as the ship lifts up.
"You okay?" Lo'ak asks, and we all start tugging at our restraints, fingers slipping, hands shaking.
All around us are groans and hisses as everyone fights to get free. My arms burn as i put all my focus into these orange restraints.
"Neteyam!" Tuk yells.
I look over just in time to see him crouch in front of us, calm like this is normal, like the ship isn't falling apart around us.
"Hey, baby brother, need some help?" he says, already cutting through the restraints with his knife.
"Shut up. Come on. Get us loose," Lo'ak snaps.
The restraints fall away and my arms feel light and free again as i nod appreciatively to Neteyam.
“Finally.” I mutter.
"Get Y/n and Tuk out of here," Neteyam says to Tsireya.
I don't wait. I grab Tuk's hand and run, my feet slipping as we bolt for the edge of the ship. The water hits us hard and cold, knocking the breath out of me, and when I come back up I see Kiri being carried back onto the ship by a dreamwalker's ikran.
"We've got to go back to her, Tuk says, already swimming toward the demon ship we barely barely managed to escape from two minutes ago.
My stomach twists. I don't want to go back. I don't want to climb that ship again. That place is full of demons.
"Tuk, wait!" Tsireya calls.
"Sully's stick together,” she says, still swimming toward the ship.
I hesitate, then follow Tuk. Tsireya follows after us, calling my name, and we climb back onto the ship, hands slipping on wet metal.
"Tuk, this is not a good idea," I whisper to her, but she's already moving.
We see Kiri restrained near the railing.
She looks up, surprised.
"Tuk!"
I pull out my hunting knife, my fingers shaking, and crouch beside her.
"Cut it here," she says, pointing, and l lean in close. The sun is sinking, eclipse is near, and everything feels slower, heavier.
Then something slams into me.
Tuk is suddenly yanked away, lifted off the ground, and Tsireya is thrown back into the water. I gasp and lunge for Kiri, sawing at the restraints as fast as I can, my hands slipping.
Before I can finish, two dreamwalkers grab me from behind. My knife gets knocked out of my hand and I watch it hit the water and sink, gone. They shove me and Tuk back against the railing and restrain us again.
"Not this again!" I hiss, staring at my wrists.
"I can't believe I'm tied up again." Tuk whines.
I lift my head. The dream walkers are forming up now, weapons ready. The sun fully disappears and the ship is swallowed by darkness, broken only by fires burning along the deck. Shadows jump and twist everywhere.
"Talk to me, Corporal. The ship's going down, and your girls with it."
Quaritch's voice slides through the ship, cold and calm. As he walks out of the shadows of the ship.
"The boy didn't have to-"
A heavy thud echoes above us. I look up, ears perked, then at Tuk and Kiri.
They don't react. I look back toward Quaritch and what he was saying.
"—you brought that on yourself.
"You thought you could keep your family safe, but you can't," Quaritch says, his voice bouncing off the walls. My throat tightens and I swallow hard. "Only one way to keep them safe."
"So let's get this over with before you lose another kid!"
The explosion hits before I can think.
Fire flashes bright, too bright, lighting everything for just a second. I see bodies thrown off the ship and into the dark water below. The blast knocks me backward but the restraints hold me in place, jerking me hard. Screams tear through the air.
Gunfire replaces them almost immediately. Sky people shout into their earpieces, frantic, following Quaritch's orders.
Then I see an arrow slam into a man's chest.
I gasp and turn to Kiri and Tuk.
"It's Mom!"
Quaritch stares at the feather, his face twisting. Kiri snarls at him.
"That's right. They're coming for you."
"Demon," I spit, and Quaritch hisses back. Tuk hisses too sharp.
He moves fast. He grabs Kiri, cuts her restraints, and drags her away.
"Kiri!" I scream, straining forward until she disappears into the dark.
Dad appears at my side and cuts Tuk's and my restraints. "Girls. Where's your sister?"
"She went that way," Tuk says, and we follow Dad, his arm out in front of us like a shield.
Quaritch steps out of the shadows with a knife pressed to Kiri's neck.
"Running out of time here, Corporal," he says. "You already lost one kid today.
You really wanna lose another?"
My chest tightens. I look around for Lo'ak. For Neteyam. I don't see them.
Dad moves forward.
"Do not test me!" Quaritch snaps, pressing the knife closer.
"Just kill him, Dad!" Kiri cries as Quaritch yanks her kuru and she groans.
"Weapons down," Quaritch orders.
"Don't, Dad. Don't," I whisper, clutching Tuk's hand.
Dad drops his weapons. Kicks them away.
Quaritch throws him restraints. "Cuff yourself."
Spider appears from behind a pillar.
"No! Don't hurt her!"
"Stand there!" Quaritch snaps.
Mom suddenly bursts from the shadows, grabbing Spider the same way Quaritch holds Kiri.
"Release," she warns. "Or I cut."
Quaritch scoffs. "You think I care about some kid?"
"A son, for a son," Mom says.
Silence.
She cuts Spiders chest. Gasps fill the space.
The sounds of pleas fill the air as I stare at my mom, speechless. Hatred filling her eyes as she glares at Spider.
"I cut," she warns again.
She raises the knife toward Spider.
"No! No!" Quaritch yells, releasing Kiri.
I grab Kiri as she stumbles.
Mom doesn't let go of Spider.
"Mom..." I whisper, stepping closer.
"You really gonna kill a kid, Mrs. Sully?" Quaritch asks.
"Mom.” Kiri says, and Mom hisses at us. We stumble back into dad’s arms, he puts his arms around us as if to protect us from our own mom.
The sound makes me stop.
"A son, for a son," she repeats.
Dad steps in, pulling her back, whispering fast mom’s face slowly morphing from anger to regret, slowly she lets him take the knife.
"Go. Go!" Dad tells Spider.
Mom stares at Quaritch. "You still owe me a death."
"Mama!" Tuk cries, pulling her arm. I pull her other arm toward the water and away from dad and Quaritch. She doesn’t react to us as she allows us to control her.
Quaritch's voice follows us. "I'm coming for you. And when I do, I'll kill your whole family."
We're already in the water when Dad charges him.
The explosion comes again.
"Back to the ship!" Spider yells.
Mom grabs Tuk's and I’s hands. "Stay close."
The ship tilts as we run, water rushes. Tuk screams as suction pulls her toward the opening.
"Mom! Don't let go!" I scream.
Tuk is dragged in. Mom dives after her, tearing her hand from mine.
“Mom!” I yell, lunging toward the suction hole, not willing to leave her and Tuk.
Spider yanks me away from the hole as Kiri grabs my hand. We run as the ship tilts more and more, crates sliding past us.
"Kiri!" I slip and she grabs my hand, hauling me up.
"We're rolling over!" Spider yells.
We ran as the ship fully rolled over, now with us being on the bottom of the ship, yet the top of the water.
"Don't stop, go go!" Spider motioned for me to keep running.
"I'm trying!"
"This way! This way!"
We ran until we reached the only place not fully submerged in the water.
"What do we do now!" I asked panicked looking at Kiri for answers scared.
"Stay together okay?" Kiri grabbed a hold of my hand,
"Y/n, together." I just nodded as she held onto Spiders hand.
The water swallows us.
We get pulled apart.
I break the surface, choking.
"Y/n!" Kiri and Spider shout.
Then I see Mom, Kiri, and Tuk coming out.
We swim up together.
I cough and gasp.
"Ma'Jake!"
"Dad!"
We're all holding onto Payakan's wing. My fingers hurt from how hard I'm gripping him. Everyone is breathing loud. The water keeps sloshing against us. The fire from the ship makes shadows move across everyone's faces.
For a few seconds... nobody says anything.
The waves rock us slowly.
Kiri is coughing next to me. Tuk is shaking so bad her teeth are clicking together. Mom is breathing fast and can't slow down. Dad is staring at the water, looking for something inside it.
I swallow.
My chest feels strange.
Heavy.
Too quiet.
Then, without meaning to, I start looking around.
Lo'ak is here.
Spider is here.
Kiri is here.
Tuk is here.
Mom.
Dad.
I look again.
Slower this time.
I check every face. I look behind Payakan's fin. I lean forward a little. Maybe he's just hiding for a second.
My heart starts to beat faster.
Neteyam always stays by dad.
Always.
Every time.
He never leaves his side.
But he's not here.
I frown.
Maybe he's still in the water. Maybe he's just the last one to come up. He always waits to make sure everyone else is safe.
So I wait.
The water moves a little.
Nothing happens.
My throat starts to feel tight.
I tug on dad's arm, not hard, just a little. "Dad...?" My voice tiny. "Where's Neteyam?"
He doesn't look at me.
He doesn't answer.
Mom's body goes stiff.
Kiri looks around too, her eyes darting toward dad and mom, she opens up her mouth to say something but puts her head down on Payakans wing. Soft cries leaving her.
Tuk leans onto mom as tears stream down her face.
Lo'ak's face changes.
And that's when my stomach drops. Not at once, but slowly.
"Y/n..." Dad starts to say.
"Where is he?" I ask again. Louder. My voice shaking. "He's supposed to be here."
Nobody answers.
My hands start to shake, and I don't know why.
I look at Spider. "Where's my brother?" He just shakes his head and looks away.
I look at Lo'ak. "Did he go the other way?" His eyes get shiny with tears.
That's when my chest starts to really hurt.
"No." I whisper shaking my head. "He's probably just late. He's helping someone. He always helps."
Dad finally turns to look at me.
I don't even hear what he says,
Because I see his face.
And I just know.
Mom's face looks empty. Something is missing from it.
The sounds of the waves quietens down.
I shake my head really fast. "No. No, that's not true. He was on the ship. I saw him, he was there." My words start to come out messy, I look at Tuk, "He was there right?"
Dad suddenly pulls me into a hug.
It's too tight.
Too sudden.
I start pushing against him. "No, let me go! I have to go find him."
He doesn't let go.
"Where is he?" I cry into his chest. "Where's Neteyam?"
Nobody answers.
That's my answer.
[previous] [next part]
YESS WE'RE DONE FOR NOWWWWW YESS IM GETTING A SEW IN DONE SOOON YESSSSSSS YESSSSSS ANGST IS COME UP SORRY FOR NOT POSTING BLAHBLAH IDC or yahhh sorry for like cloffhanger im milking this series this chapter is soooo long
Neytiri x daughetr!Reader; Jake x daughter!Reader; Sully Family x Child!Reader
Chapter 5: The Hunt
Masterlist
Previous: [prologue] [pt1] [pt2] [pt3] [previous]
Summary: Despite leaving their homeland, Y/n holds onto her mother's values. However, tragedy strikes with Neteyam's death, shattering Y/n's innocence and sparking a raging fury within her, forever changing her carefree spirit
My Spirit sister and her baby, have been murdered by the Sky People! This war has come to us, we knew about this hunting of our tulkun people. But it was over the horizon, far away.
Now, it is here!
"No... no! You gotta understand how the sky people think," Dad says, trying to force calm into the storm of voices. "They don't care about the great balance."
"We don't answer to sky people!" someone yells back.
The whole crowd erupts. Anger rolls through the clan like a wave, deep and loud. I inch closer to my mother's side, my fingers brushing her arm. The air is full of shouting, pride and hurt all mixing together.
"Listen. Listen to him," Neteyam says as he steps forward.
The yips and cheers fade down to quiet murmurs.
"The sky people are not gonna stop. This is only the beginning." Dad says, taking the little bit of calm Neteyam created and holding onto it. "You gotta tell your tulkun to leave!"
Silence.
"Leave?" Ronal spits, her voice sharp enough to cut through stone. "You live among us and your learn nothing!"
Her eyes burn on my dad, anger and grief braided together.
"We will fight to protect our brothers and sisters!"
That sets everyone off again, voices crashing, people shoving forward.
"If you attack, if you fight. Then they will destroy you." Dad's voice rises above them, desperate. "They will destroy everything you love." his hand moves towards Ronal's bump, the curve of new life she carries.
The clan reacts instantly, the threat of someone so vulnerable at the hands of sky people igniting a spark.
"We will fight!"
"Listen to me!"
"Fight for our land!"
"Listen to my father!" Neteyam shouts, frustration in his voice.
Dad snatches the device Neteyam has been holding onto the whole time. Lifting it up for the whole clan to see.
The movement slices through the noise, silence spreads across the clan.
"Tell the tulkun," Dad says, holding up the metal thing so everyone can see, "That if they're hit by one of these they're marked for death."
I grip my mothers arm tightly at the news of how simple it was for the sky people to destroy life.
"Call for me," he says, sweeping the crowd. "I'll silence it. Saving their lives, that's what matters. Right?"
His gaze lands on Tonowari.
He lifts his chin, the whole clan waiting on what their leader says.
"Tell the tulkun."
"I wish I'd been there. The ocean blessed you with a gift, brother."
"Kiri shh-" I say trying to grasp the story that Lo'ak is telling us. We sit in a circle with the Metkayina children, listening. From Aonung and the other boys leading him outside of the reef, to him nearly meeting Eywa to him getting saved by a Tulkun.
"The tulkun have not returned yet. And anyway no tulkun is ever alone." Aonung states with a shrug, his tone clearly showed that he didn't belive Lo'ak.
"Well this one was," Lo'ak says, his voice tight. "He had a... missing fin. Like a stump on the left side."
"Payakan." Tsireya mutters, almost to herself.
I glance at Neteyam. He's just as confused as me, shaking his head, trying to figure out how this fits together.
"Who's Payakan?" Kiri asks.
"A young bull who went rogue. He's outcast. Alone." Rotxo finally says.
"They say he's a killer..." Tsireya warned, gripping Lo'ak's arm.
"No..no." He said, removing her hand.
"He killed Na'vi, and other tulkun." Aonung finishes.
"No. He's no killer..." Lo'ak shakes his head, his chest rising and falling with anger.
"Lo'ak, you're lucky to be alive." Tsireya says.
"I'm telling you guys. He saved my life." Lo'ak insists. But the look on everyones faces say otherwise, "He's my friend."
Neteyam finally stands up after staying silent a long moment. "My baby bro! The Mighty Warrior who faced the killer tulkun and lived to tell about it, huh?" he teases.
Lo'ak angrily shrugs him off, "You guys aren't listening."
Tuk softly says, "Lo'ak, I'm listening." But he just stormed off, legs moving fast over the sand.
"Lo'ak! Come back!" Kiri called
We all watch in silence as he walked away and toward the beach, calling an ilu and disappearing into the shimmering water.
They started talking about visiting the Metkayina's version of the Cove of Ancestors but I can't. It just doesn't feel right seeing my ancestors in someone else's land.
"If Payakan is such a killer why would he bring Lo'ak back into the reef barrier?" I ask Tsireya as we stand to leave.
"Y/n we, the Metkayina, were taught this. It was a tragedy in the south." Aonung warned walking away without looking back
I roll my eyes walking toward our mauri, "That's probably what other Na'vi told mom when meeting dad... but guess what? Eywa allowed it." I said to myself.
I enter the mauri and see sa'nok making lìngpay, food for dinner, humming a tune softly to herself.
She doesn't even look up when she asks, "Ma'ite, why are you not out there with the others?"
I shrug fiddling with the edge of my loincloth. "They're going to the cove of ancestors."
Finally she lifts her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. She gestures for me to come closer. "And you do not wish to see the ancestors?"
I shake my head. "Not here, not now," I sigh kneeling beside her, "Maybe once we go home."
She watches me for a moment, like she can see through all the things I'm not saying. "The ancestors are everywhere ma'ite," she says gently. "Even here."
"Maybe," I mutter, "but the ones who know me aren't in the water."
She pauses. Something flickers across her face, understanding? sadness? maybe even a hint of agreement. Sa'nok was forest first. I think she still is.
I start helping her pick scales off the fish she's preparing.
"Hypothetically," I say, trying to keep my voice casual. "What would you do if a whole clan doesn't trust someone for something you know they haven't done?"
I see her jaw tighten, ever so slightly. "People fear what they do not understand. Even I do."
"Yeah," I whisper. "That's what they said about dad too, right? When you first met him?"
She looks sharply at me, surprised. Then softens. "Eywa brought your father to me for a reason."
"And maybe..." I say thinking of Lo'ak's face, when he said that Payakan had saved him, "...maybe Eywa brought him to Lo'ak too." I whisper to myself.
She reaches for my songcord, a quiet gesture. "Who has Eywa brought into your brothers life Ma'ite?"
I shake my head, "He met this tulk--"
"Mom! Mom!" Neteyam bursts in, cutting me off.
"It's Kiri." he says, breathless.
The Sully household had been up early to in with Kiri. Dad had told us as a family not to go to the Cove of Ancestors because of what had happened to her.
"Because Sully's..."
"Stick together!" we all said in unison, holding Kiri's hand as she tries to weave a bead into Tuk's hair.
Suddnely, the sound of a conch blasts through the air. We all run outside to see what's happening.
"What's going on?" Dad asks.
The members of the clan rush toward the ocean, excitement making their movements sharp, precise.
"The tulkun have returned! Everybody our brothers and sisters have returned!"
I looked out over the water and see them. A massive herd of tulkuns, breaking the surface moving with power and grace toward the village.
I ran toward them, bouncing with each step.
The joyous sounds of the Metkayina fill the air, voices high with yips and cheers.
"I see you!"
"Sister!"
The yips rise, echoing across the waves as everyone swims toward their tulkuns.
In their endless cycle of migration, the tulkun had come home.
I turn to see my family making their way to the water, eyes wide with wonder and awe.
Even underwater, the tulkun are beautiful, bigger than I imagined moving like the ocean itself as clicks filled the air, ones that only translated to their respective Na'vi's.
We play. The Metkayina and the tulkun allow us, to interact with a part of them Eywa had chosen.
It was a time for stories, of their season apart. Of deaths, of births. Old friends, and new loves.
Silence. The waves crashing too loud.
Cries pierce the air.
"What is this Tonowari? What is this!"
"She was my Spirit sister!"
I spin around, looking for Lo'ak as the clan sails off to warn their tulkuns of the dangers ahead. Neteyam and Lo'ak stand near ilu's, faces tense. I walk over to them trying to stay out of the way but close enough to hear.
"No way you're rolling out of here baby brother." Neteyam says stepping toward him.
"I have to warn Payakan about the pingers."
"No. You've got to keep your skxwang ass here."
"He's outcast. Theres nobody to warn him but me!"
"Bro, why do you always have to make things so hard," Neteyam jokes, but Lo'ak isn't laughing.
Lo'ak shrugs off his hand. "You mean why can't I be the perfect son like you? The perfect little soldier. Well I'm not you!"
"Okay? I'm not you! He's my brother. I'm going."
"Oh, he's your brother? No! I'm your brother."
From the corner of my eyes, I saw the Metkayina kids gliding on their ilu's toward us. I wave my hand sharply for them to be quiet.
"Get off me!" Lo'ak shouts, shoving Neteyam before diving straight into the water. His ilu rushes under him.
"Lo'ak!"
"Come back!" Tsireya yelled.
"Come on, he's going to Payakan!"
Everyone scrambles for their mounts. I take a small running jump forward.
"Reya!" I shout.
Tsireya swimgs her ilu sideways so I can grab on behind her. My fingers latch onto her shoulders, and we take off after Lo'ak.
We swim across the water, and Kiri and Tuk suddenly ride in from somewhere on Kiri's ilu. "Kiri! Tuk! Come!" I call breath catching as we chase Lo'ak.
"Lo'ak come back!"
A deep and heavy wail shakes the waters.
Payakan.
We leap off the ilu and climb onto his massive side, fingers slipping on wet skin as we scramble to the pinger. It's jammed deep. Everyone pulls, grunts, strains.
A sharp, low mechanical hum reaches my ears. I snap my head up.
"Hurry! There's a ship coming!"
The words explode panic across all our faces. The pinger is wedged too far into him.
"Call it in. Hurry, tell dad." Neteyam orders Lo'ak.
Lo'ak fumbles with his earpiece. "Dad-- I mean devil dog do you read? We're with a tulkun that's under attack." he says into the ear piece. "Killer ships inbound we're about two klicks out."
A pause.
"It's all of us, Aonung, Rotxo and Tsireya too. We're at three brothers rocks." Lo'ak suddenly says.
"Yes sir." he said replying to something.
"It's getting closer!" I shout again.
I scramble back onto the ilu Tsireya and I came on, my heart pounding as they tied the pinger onto Neteyam's ilu and pulled on it.
Snap.
The pinger finally rips out of Payakan.
"Go! Go! Everyone away from it now!"
We dive into the water. A boom rips the ocean behind us, shaking Tsireya's ilu underneath me. I cling to her arm desperately as we rush toward the others.
Everyone is hiding, everyone besides Neteyam who had taken the pinger and seperated from us.
Small dark shapes fall into the water from the ship.
Machines.
We swim through the kelp forest, the machines chasing us. The ilu moves so fast that I have to grip onto Tsireya even tighter, having nothing to hold onto but her.
A thunk knocks us off of the ilu, a flotation pinger.
Tsireya grabs my hand before I can get flung too far away from her as Lo'ak dives in on his ilu, dragging us away. But the weight of all three of us slowls the ilu down.
We slip off and hide in the kelp, watching as the ilu darts away. The machine following closely behind it.
My throat starts to close, panic washing over me. I tap my throat, struggling for airr. Tsireya quickly leads us to an air pocket inside of a plant.
"Tuk!" Lo'ak and I shout at the same time after surfacing.
"Are you alright? Where's Kiri?" I ask my voice echoing weirdly in the plant.
"I don't know.." Tuk gasps.
We all fall silent, listening.
"It is coming!" Tsireya whsipers, warning us.
"We gotta go." Lo'ak says, we all take a deep breathe in.
We dive back into the water, just in time to see two machines coming towards us.
Then
A net surrounds my vision, I look around frantically to see Tuk and Tsireya are caught too. Lo'ak slips out just before it closes.
We're yanked upward, the ocean below us as an ikran lifts us higher and higher. The dream walkers, the same forest ones, capturing us.
I let out a scream as I claw at the net. Tsireya and Tuk are yelling too, fightning tangled.
We're dropped onto the metal deck of the ship. Stumbling out of the net with the others.
"Drop the weapon!" a dream walker shouts at Lo'ak. He's holding his knife toward them.
A dream walker grabs my arm before I can reach for my tsal. He yanks me down, slamming me onto the cold metal. His boot crushing into my stomach.
"Let me go! You demon!" I thrash, trying to pry his boot off of me.
I watch as Tuk fights a dreamwalker too, her Metkayina knife knocked from her hand as she hits the floor. Tsireya is still tangled in the net, struggling like she's drowning in it as a dreamwalker tries to restrain her too. Lo'ak is pinned like me but on his back.
The sounds of sky people yelling grabs my attention.
"Hey! Hey what are you doing stop. Don't hurt them!" Spider yells.
He tries to move toward us but gets grabbed and shoved by two soldiers.
I clawed at the leg that was keeping me down, "Stop it you little shit!" He said grabbing my my arms and pinning them down, I hissed at him.
I look over to see Spider and Lo'ak talking hurridly as they're restrained.
Quaritch drops from his ikran, boots slamming onto the deck. "Keep him there." he orders his soldiers. Then turns to us.
The dream walker keeping Lo'ak down lifted him up, "Yeah. I remember you."
"Cuff em to the rail. All of 'em."
Hands grab me under the arms and sling me between Tuk and Tsireya. I growl but I can't break free.
"Be brave." Lo'ak says.
Yips and ululation echo from the water. I squint my eyes to see.
The Metkayina warriors.
"Na'vi inbound!"
"Spread out! Weapons up!"
"Dad!" Tuk screams. I looked at the clan and see dad in the front along side Tonowari and Ronal.
Quaritch rips off Lo'ak's earpiece. "Jake, tell your friends to stand down. You want your kids back, you come out alone!"
My stomach twists. I shake my head even through dad can't see.
"You know better than to test my resolve," Quaritch finishes.
Tsireya chokes out, "Lo'ak no."
I turn to see why. Quaritch is pressing a gun against Lo'ak's head.
I growled as I turned to look back at the Na'vi in the horizon, I didn't want to see what was happening.
"I took you under my wing Jake," he started, "You betrayed me. You killed your own people. Good men, good women. I will not hesitate to execute your kid."
Silence.
I looked at the Na'vi on the water.
They're weapons had lowered. I let out a breath. They won't fight, not now.
"What's it gonna be?" Quaritch demands.
Dad moves across the water, alone.
"Easy shot." a soldier mutters.
"You hit em now and they'll attack. Wait until he's on board."
Only the sounds of the ocean can be heard as we watch as my dad surrenders. The skimwing he was on slowly gliding up to the boat.
Suddenly, the sea explodes upward.
"Payakan!"
The whole ship violently shakes when Payakan slams down on it. The impact so hard it rattles in my bones. I lose my footing for a second barely catching onto my restraints that i wanted to remove oh so badly before.
"Hold on!" Lo'ak yells.
I don't need him to say it. My hands are already clenched so tightly they hurt. Everything around us is screaming, metal, peoples, guns as they started shooting at Payakan.
Bright blasts fly across the air, loud and sharp, too close, I duck my head even though there's no where to hide.
Payakan swings his tail across the deck, and bodies go with it. Sky people fly. Some hit the railing, some disappear over the edge. I see Lo'ak move out of the corner of my eye, he kicks one of them straight into Payakan's wing. I hear the sound when it hits. That must hurt.
I look away from him, everything's wrong.
I yank at my restraints, pulling hard, then harder, then using my teeth because my hands weren't strong enough. I growl at the restraints, my jaw aches. They won't break.
We need to move. We need to go.
The sounds around me gunfire, shouting, metal ripping make it worse, make my skin feel too tight. It hurts.
Then I hear it.
The ululating sound cuts through everything, close and loud, and my head snaps up before I even think about it.
Payakan dives back into the sea, and past the edge of the ship I see Dad and the Metkayina charging in. They move together, tast, and then they all dive under as bullets rip into the water where they just were.
As chaos erupted around us I tugged at my restraints, using my teeth to try and remove them. Growling in frustration at my attempts not working. The sounds of destruction adding to my want to be freed from the rail.
The sudden ululating creeping closer got me looking up from the work i was doing as Payakan finally dove into the see, I saw dad and the metkayina charging toward the ship.
They all suddenly dove into the water as the bullets from the weapons they had started blasting.
"Sully's inbound! I want eyes on!"
Looking up, my neck craning, and that's when I see Mom on her ikran.
She's already moving, already pulling her bow, and then a helicopter goes down under her arrows. It spins and crashes, fire blooming out of it.
"Mom!" I yell, my chest tight, and she ululates in reply, sharp and fierce, like she won.
Skimwings burst out of the water around the ship as Metkayina warriors attack, and my heart starts pounding harder. Everything feels close. Too close. I pull at my restraints again, harder now, because everyone else is moving and I'm not.
"Y/n! Relax!" Lo'ak shouts.
I huff at him, angry and breathless, and bite at the restraints again. Relaxing is stupid. Relaxing doesn't get me off the rail.
Then the ship suddenly lurches forward.
The ground tilts and my stomach drops, and for a second it feels like I'm floating.
I grab the railing without thinking, the same railing I wanted gone, and hold on as the ship surges ahead. I look around to everyone in the air, faces frozen as the ship lifts up.
"You okay?" Lo'ak asks, and we all start tugging at our restraints, fingers slipping, hands shaking.
All around us are groans and hisses as everyone fights to get free. My arms burn as i put all my focus into these orange restraints.
"Neteyam!" Tuk yells.
I look over just in time to see him crouch in front of us, calm like this is normal, like the ship isn't falling apart around us.
"Hey, baby brother, need some help?" he says, already cutting through the restraints with his knife.
"Shut up. Come on. Get us loose," Lo'ak snaps.
The restraints fall away and my arms feel light and free again as i nod appreciatively to Neteyam.
“Finally.” I mutter.
"Get Y/n and Tuk out of here," Neteyam says to Tsireya.
I don't wait. I grab Tuk's hand and run, my feet slipping as we bolt for the edge of the ship. The water hits us hard and cold, knocking the breath out of me, and when I come back up I see Kiri being carried back onto the ship by a dreamwalker's ikran.
"We've got to go back to her, Tuk says, already swimming toward the demon ship we barely barely managed to escape from two minutes ago.
My stomach twists. I don't want to go back. I don't want to climb that ship again. That place is full of demons.
"Tuk, wait!" Tsireya calls.
"Sully's stick together,” she says, still swimming toward the ship.
I hesitate, then follow Tuk. Tsireya follows after us, calling my name, and we climb back onto the ship, hands slipping on wet metal.
"Tuk, this is not a good idea," I whisper to her, but she's already moving.
We see Kiri restrained near the railing.
She looks up, surprised.
"Tuk!"
I pull out my hunting knife, my fingers shaking, and crouch beside her.
"Cut it here," she says, pointing, and l lean in close. The sun is sinking, eclipse is near, and everything feels slower, heavier.
Then something slams into me.
Tuk is suddenly yanked away, lifted off the ground, and Tsireya is thrown back into the water. I gasp and lunge for Kiri, sawing at the restraints as fast as I can, my hands slipping.
Before I can finish, two dreamwalkers grab me from behind. My knife gets knocked out of my hand and I watch it hit the water and sink, gone. They shove me and Tuk back against the railing and restrain us again.
"Not this again!" I hiss, staring at my wrists.
"I can't believe I'm tied up again." Tuk whines.
I lift my head. The dream walkers are forming up now, weapons ready. The sun fully disappears and the ship is swallowed by darkness, broken only by fires burning along the deck. Shadows jump and twist everywhere.
"Talk to me, Corporal. The ship's going down, and your girls with it."
Quaritch's voice slides through the ship, cold and calm. As he walks out of the shadows of the ship.
"The boy didn't have to-"
A heavy thud echoes above us. I look up, ears perked, then at Tuk and Kiri.
They don't react. I look back toward Quaritch and what he was saying.
"—you brought that on yourself.
"You thought you could keep your family safe, but you can't," Quaritch says, his voice bouncing off the walls. My throat tightens and I swallow hard. "Only one way to keep them safe."
"So let's get this over with before you lose another kid!"
The explosion hits before I can think.
Fire flashes bright, too bright, lighting everything for just a second. I see bodies thrown off the ship and into the dark water below. The blast knocks me backward but the restraints hold me in place, jerking me hard. Screams tear through the air.
Gunfire replaces them almost immediately. Sky people shout into their earpieces, frantic, following Quaritch's orders.
Then I see an arrow slam into a man's chest.
I gasp and turn to Kiri and Tuk.
"It's Mom!"
Quaritch stares at the feather, his face twisting. Kiri snarls at him.
"That's right. They're coming for you."
"Demon," I spit, and Quaritch hisses back. Tuk hisses too sharp.
He moves fast. He grabs Kiri, cuts her restraints, and drags her away.
"Kiri!" I scream, straining forward until she disappears into the dark.
Dad appears at my side and cuts Tuk's and my restraints. "Girls. Where's your sister?"
"She went that way," Tuk says, and we follow Dad, his arm out in front of us like a shield.
Quaritch steps out of the shadows with a knife pressed to Kiri's neck.
"Running out of time here, Corporal," he says. "You already lost one kid today.
You really wanna lose another?"
My chest tightens. I look around for Lo'ak. For Neteyam. I don't see them.
Dad moves forward.
"Do not test me!" Quaritch snaps, pressing the knife closer.
"Just kill him, Dad!" Kiri cries as Quaritch yanks her kuru and she groans.
"Weapons down," Quaritch orders.
"Don't, Dad. Don't," I whisper, clutching Tuk's hand.
Dad drops his weapons. Kicks them away.
Quaritch throws him restraints. "Cuff yourself."
Spider appears from behind a pillar.
"No! Don't hurt her!"
"Stand there!" Quaritch snaps.
Mom suddenly bursts from the shadows, grabbing Spider the same way Quaritch holds Kiri.
"Release," she warns. "Or I cut."
Quaritch scoffs. "You think I care about some kid?"
"A son, for a son," Mom says.
Silence.
She cuts Spiders chest. Gasps fill the space.
The sounds of pleas fill the air as I stare at my mom, speechless. Hatred filling her eyes as she glares at Spider.
"I cut," she warns again.
She raises the knife toward Spider.
"No! No!" Quaritch yells, releasing Kiri.
I grab Kiri as she stumbles.
Mom doesn't let go of Spider.
"Mom..." I whisper, stepping closer.
"You really gonna kill a kid, Mrs. Sully?" Quaritch asks.
"Mom.” Kiri says, and Mom hisses at us. We stumble back into dad’s arms, he puts his arms around us as if to protect us from our own mom.
The sound makes me stop.
"A son, for a son," she repeats.
Dad steps in, pulling her back, whispering fast mom’s face slowly morphing from anger to regret, slowly she lets him take the knife.
"Go. Go!" Dad tells Spider.
Mom stares at Quaritch. "You still owe me a death."
"Mama!" Tuk cries, pulling her arm. I pull her other arm toward the water and away from dad and Quaritch. She doesn’t react to us as she allows us to control her.
Quaritch's voice follows us. "I'm coming for you. And when I do, I'll kill your whole family."
We're already in the water when Dad charges him.
The explosion comes again.
"Back to the ship!" Spider yells.
Mom grabs Tuk's and I’s hands. "Stay close."
The ship tilts as we run, water rushes. Tuk screams as suction pulls her toward the opening.
"Mom! Don't let go!" I scream.
Tuk is dragged in. Mom dives after her, tearing her hand from mine.
“Mom!” I yell, lunging toward the suction hole, not willing to leave her and Tuk.
Spider yanks me away from the hole as Kiri grabs my hand. We run as the ship tilts more and more, crates sliding past us.
"Kiri!" I slip and she grabs my hand, hauling me up.
"We're rolling over!" Spider yells.
We ran as the ship fully rolled over, now with us being on the bottom of the ship, yet the top of the water.
"Don't stop, go go!" Spider motioned for me to keep running.
"I'm trying!"
"This way! This way!"
We ran until we reached the only place not fully submerged in the water.
"What do we do now!" I asked panicked looking at Kiri for answers scared.
"Stay together okay?" Kiri grabbed a hold of my hand,
"Y/n, together." I just nodded as she held onto Spiders hand.
The water swallows us.
We get pulled apart.
I break the surface, choking.
"Y/n!" Kiri and Spider shout.
Then I see Mom, Kiri, and Tuk coming out.
We swim up together.
I cough and gasp.
"Ma'Jake!"
"Dad!"
We're all holding onto Payakan's wing. My fingers hurt from how hard I'm gripping him. Everyone is breathing loud. The water keeps sloshing against us. The fire from the ship makes shadows move across everyone's faces.
For a few seconds... nobody says anything.
The waves rock us slowly.
Kiri is coughing next to me. Tuk is shaking so bad her teeth are clicking together. Mom is breathing fast and can't slow down. Dad is staring at the water, looking for something inside it.
I swallow.
My chest feels strange.
Heavy.
Too quiet.
Then, without meaning to, I start looking around.
Lo'ak is here.
Spider is here.
Kiri is here.
Tuk is here.
Mom.
Dad.
I look again.
Slower this time.
I check every face. I look behind Payakan's fin. I lean forward a little. Maybe he's just hiding for a second.
My heart starts to beat faster.
Neteyam always stays by dad.
Always.
Every time.
He never leaves his side.
But he's not here.
I frown.
Maybe he's still in the water. Maybe he's just the last one to come up. He always waits to make sure everyone else is safe.
So I wait.
The water moves a little.
Nothing happens.
My throat starts to feel tight.
I tug on dad's arm, not hard, just a little. "Dad...?" My voice tiny. "Where's Neteyam?"
He doesn't look at me.
He doesn't answer.
Mom's body goes stiff.
Kiri looks around too, her eyes darting toward dad and mom, she opens up her mouth to say something but puts her head down on Payakans wing. Soft cries leaving her.
Tuk leans onto mom as tears stream down her face.
Lo'ak's face changes.
And that's when my stomach drops. Not at once, but slowly.
"Y/n..." Dad starts to say.
"Where is he?" I ask again. Louder. My voice shaking. "He's supposed to be here."
Nobody answers.
My hands start to shake, and I don't know why.
I look at Spider. "Where's my brother?" He just shakes his head and looks away.
I look at Lo'ak. "Did he go the other way?" His eyes get shiny with tears.
That's when my chest starts to really hurt.
"No." I whisper shaking my head. "He's probably just late. He's helping someone. He always helps."
Dad finally turns to look at me.
I don't even hear what he says,
Because I see his face.
And I just know.
Mom's face looks empty. Something is missing from it.
The sounds of the waves quietens down.
I shake my head really fast. "No. No, that's not true. He was on the ship. I saw him, he was there." My words start to come out messy, I look at Tuk, "He was there right?"
Dad suddenly pulls me into a hug.
It's too tight.
Too sudden.
I start pushing against him. "No, let me go! I have to go find him."
He doesn't let go.
"Where is he?" I cry into his chest. "Where's Neteyam?"
Nobody answers.
That's my answer.
[previous] [next part]
YESS WE'RE DONE FOR NOWWWWW YESS IM GETTING A SEW IN DONE SOOON YESSSSSSS YESSSSSS ANGST IS COME UP SORRY FOR NOT POSTING BLAHBLAH IDC or yahhh sorry for like cloffhanger im milking this series this chapter is soooo long
Neytiri x daughetr!Reader; Jake x daughter!Reader; Sully Family x Child!Reader
Chapter 4: The weight of water
Masterlist
Previous: [prologue] [pt1] [pt2] [previous]
Summary: Despite leaving their homeland, Y/n holds onto her mother's values. However, tragedy strikes with Neteyam's death, shattering Y/n's innocence and sparking a raging fury within her, forever changing her carefree spirit
Imagine flickering a flame, you must slow down your heartbeat. Breathe from down here, breathe out slowly. Let your mind go clear.
I come up coughing, spitting water out of my mouth, looking around for Tuk.
"I don't know what Tsireya means. How can your mind go clear when all I can think about is not breathing in the water." Tuk comes up immediately ranting.
I giggle trying to catch my breath. We decided to explore a little more after our swimming lesson with Tsireya and Rotxo. The others went to hang out with the older Metkayina teens on the beach.
"Tuk, did you see those shiny rocks down there? We can collect them and go to sa'nok so she can add them to our songcords!" I thrash my arms, bouncing with excitement. She grins and we dive under.
We dive down kicking hard, propelling us downwards. I grab the rock that glints red and green in the sun, shove it in my pouch and look back for Tuk.
Suddenly, she shoots up, panicked, and I follow.
We both break the surface as I turn to her my heart in my throat, "What's wrong Tuk?"I gasp.
She's clutching her hand, eyes wide, shiny with tears. Blood seeps between her fingers.
"It hurts.." she sniffles.
"Come, we must go to Tsahik."
Ronal doesn't say much as I show her Tuk's palm, just gives a nod and motions Tuk to sit down. Her hands are fast, like Moat's, pressing herbs against the wound and begins stitching, and I have to look away, swallowing hard.
"Do not worry," Ronal says, not kindly just... observant. "It is not your fault."
I nod quietly fiddling with the slick rock that caused this. Tuk whimpers.
"I'm supposed to take care of her.."
"You did," she says. "You brought her to safety."
When she's done, she binds Tuk's hand gently. "She'll heal."
I thank her and take Tuk's other hand walking toward our mauri hoping that nobody is there so i could just drop Tuk off and let her rest without any questions.
We step into the mauri.
Sempu's voice cuts through the quiet. Sharp. Low.
Crap.
There goes my plan of dropping her off.
"Go apologize to Aonung. He's the chief's son, Do you understand? I don't care how you do it just go make peace."
Lo'ak walks past us and out of the entrance as Neteyam glances over at us, realising that we were here. Sempu finally turns to look at us.
His face softens just a but, seeing the wrapping around took hand.
"And where were you when your sister got hurt?" he snaps at Neteyam.
Neteyam flinches.
"And Y/n?" Jake points at me. "She's not mature enough to look after Tuk, not alone."
I take a step forward ready to defend myself. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
"I'm not a baby." Tuk says in my place.
"You are a child," he says firm. "You both are."
Silence stretches over the mauri.
"Y/n looks after Tuk all the time dad." Neteyam says.
Jake exhales, rubbing a hand over his face.
He mutters something kneeling to see me eye level. "I just... it's been a chaotic day."
I say nothing. Just let go of Tuk's and walk past him out the entrance and along the bouncy walkways.
Because I do take it seriously. Being an older sister. Even if they don't always see it.
Because that's my role in this family.
Everyone has a role.
I peak my head inside a mauri, the Metkayina women in there singing songs as they weave patterns, the other thing i had seen them weaving now off to the side, a complete basket.
"Sully girl, come in young one." an elder says. Eyes on me. I shuffle in, nervous.
"Do not be shy, we saw you from the start." They make a small space for me to kneel alongside them
"I heard a tìrol, I wanted to know what it meant." i whisper shyly, the women around me filling the air with sounds of understanding.
"Weaving song. This one is different from the ones you learn in the forest, yes?" I nod my head, "My Sa'noka sa'nok would teach me the songs of the Omaticaya..."
"Well now you may learn those of the Metkayina..."
The sun's lower now, warmth spilling across the walkways I leave the weavers mauri. It's quieter now just the sounds of waves crashing in the distance.
I walk along the woven path slowly, in no rush to go back to our mauri, songs swirling in my head. The forest songs were easier to connect with... mine.
As I walk closer I see warriors planning, the Olo'eytkan clearly leading the group discussion.
In their hushed whispers I heard Lo'ak's name, a sudden chaos filling the air around me.
"Lo'ak!"
"Sully boy!" The clan members yell around some hoping onto their ilu's as they do it.
With a yelp, Kiri grabs my wrist and pulls me into the mauri where her, Tuk and Tsireya sat.
Everything outside goes loud, voices, footsteps, splashes but we can't see anything.
I hear sempu's voice, rough, half shout, half breathless relief.
It all starts to fade.
Minutes stretch, Dad pushes in first, face stone.
Lo'ak follows behind him. He doesn't look hurt, but he doesn't look proud either.
"Days over." Dad says. No explanation, no room for questions.
He steps aside so Tsireya slip past, then turns and disappears back outside himself to where sa'nok was.
We climb into our hammock, everyone wriggling and pushing for space. I squeeze myself between Lo'ak and Neteyam. It takes a moment for the net to stop swaying.
The silence stretches.
"Bro, where were you?" I say aloud, it was just us, sully siblings, in the mauri, I didn't need to worry about mom or dad.
Lo'ak sighs, long and tired. "Y/n..."
"No, tell us." Neteyam adds in. "Everyone was freaking out. We thought we lost you."
Loak snorts softly. "I wasn't in danger. I swear."
"You were gone."
"Gone. gone." Kiri adds shifting her body so she could be apart of the conversation.
He turns his head to each of us. "I found... a friend. He saved me."
Hearing that we all bunch up together, waiting for Lo'ak to further explain what happened.
"That's it?" I squint at him, "You couldn't have tried to befriend someone inside of the reef?"
"Yeah like Aonung, Rotxo?" Tuk added.
"Not Aonung."
"Yeah he's a bully."
"Fish lipped bully."
At that we all laughed as we got back into our sleeping positions, this was nice ending the day off with laughter instead of dads commands.
The net sways as someone shifts. Sa'nok enters, humming a soft note across the mauri, a signal for us to sleep. I close my eyes.
"It was a tulkun." I hear Lo'ak whisper to me as I opened my eyes.
"A what?" i whisper yell at him, he just closes his eyes and turns to face the other direction.
Then I curl closer to the net, letting the water-scented breeze move through the kelku.
A tulkun?
[previous] [next]
short ahh chapter, idc the next chapter is already done i just need to polish ittt yayyyy and that one is long asf😞🤘im tryna get these chapters OUTTTTT so jan i can do avatar 3 thingiessss i wanna be caught uppppp
Neytiri x daughetr!Reader; Jake x daughter!Reader; Sully Family x Child!Reader
Chapter 4: The weight of water
Masterlist
Previous: [prologue] [pt1] [pt2] [previous]
Summary: Despite leaving their homeland, Y/n holds onto her mother's values. However, tragedy strikes with Neteyam's death, shattering Y/n's innocence and sparking a raging fury within her, forever changing her carefree spirit
Imagine flickering a flame, you must slow down your heartbeat. Breathe from down here, breathe out slowly. Let your mind go clear.
I come up coughing, spitting water out of my mouth, looking around for Tuk.
"I don't know what Tsireya means. How can your mind go clear when all I can think about is not breathing in the water." Tuk comes up immediately ranting.
I giggle trying to catch my breath. We decided to explore a little more after our swimming lesson with Tsireya and Rotxo. The others went to hang out with the older Metkayina teens on the beach.
"Tuk, did you see those shiny rocks down there? We can collect them and go to sa'nok so she can add them to our songcords!" I thrash my arms, bouncing with excitement. She grins and we dive under.
We dive down kicking hard, propelling us downwards. I grab the rock that glints red and green in the sun, shove it in my pouch and look back for Tuk.
Suddenly, she shoots up, panicked, and I follow.
We both break the surface as I turn to her my heart in my throat, "What's wrong Tuk?"I gasp.
She's clutching her hand, eyes wide, shiny with tears. Blood seeps between her fingers.
"It hurts.." she sniffles.
"Come, we must go to Tsahik."
Ronal doesn't say much as I show her Tuk's palm, just gives a nod and motions Tuk to sit down. Her hands are fast, like Moat's, pressing herbs against the wound and begins stitching, and I have to look away, swallowing hard.
"Do not worry," Ronal says, not kindly just... observant. "It is not your fault."
I nod quietly fiddling with the slick rock that caused this. Tuk whimpers.
"I'm supposed to take care of her.."
"You did," she says. "You brought her to safety."
When she's done, she binds Tuk's hand gently. "She'll heal."
I thank her and take Tuk's other hand walking toward our mauri hoping that nobody is there so i could just drop Tuk off and let her rest without any questions.
We step into the mauri.
Sempu's voice cuts through the quiet. Sharp. Low.
Crap.
There goes my plan of dropping her off.
"Go apologize to Aonung. He's the chief's son, Do you understand? I don't care how you do it just go make peace."
Lo'ak walks past us and out of the entrance as Neteyam glances over at us, realising that we were here. Sempu finally turns to look at us.
His face softens just a but, seeing the wrapping around took hand.
"And where were you when your sister got hurt?" he snaps at Neteyam.
Neteyam flinches.
"And Y/n?" Jake points at me. "She's not mature enough to look after Tuk, not alone."
I take a step forward ready to defend myself. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
"I'm not a baby." Tuk says in my place.
"You are a child," he says firm. "You both are."
Silence stretches over the mauri.
"Y/n looks after Tuk all the time dad." Neteyam says.
Jake exhales, rubbing a hand over his face.
He mutters something kneeling to see me eye level. "I just... it's been a chaotic day."
I say nothing. Just let go of Tuk's and walk past him out the entrance and along the bouncy walkways.
Because I do take it seriously. Being an older sister. Even if they don't always see it.
Because that's my role in this family.
Everyone has a role.
I peak my head inside a mauri, the Metkayina women in there singing songs as they weave patterns, the other thing i had seen them weaving now off to the side, a complete basket.
"Sully girl, come in young one." an elder says. Eyes on me. I shuffle in, nervous.
"Do not be shy, we saw you from the start." They make a small space for me to kneel alongside them
"I heard a tìrol, I wanted to know what it meant." i whisper shyly, the women around me filling the air with sounds of understanding.
"Weaving song. This one is different from the ones you learn in the forest, yes?" I nod my head, "My Sa'noka sa'nok would teach me the songs of the Omaticaya..."
"Well now you may learn those of the Metkayina..."
The sun's lower now, warmth spilling across the walkways I leave the weavers mauri. It's quieter now just the sounds of waves crashing in the distance.
I walk along the woven path slowly, in no rush to go back to our mauri, songs swirling in my head. The forest songs were easier to connect with... mine.
As I walk closer I see warriors planning, the Olo'eytkan clearly leading the group discussion.
In their hushed whispers I heard Lo'ak's name, a sudden chaos filling the air around me.
"Lo'ak!"
"Sully boy!" The clan members yell around some hoping onto their ilu's as they do it.
With a yelp, Kiri grabs my wrist and pulls me into the mauri where her, Tuk and Tsireya sat.
Everything outside goes loud, voices, footsteps, splashes but we can't see anything.
I hear sempu's voice, rough, half shout, half breathless relief.
It all starts to fade.
Minutes stretch, Dad pushes in first, face stone.
Lo'ak follows behind him. He doesn't look hurt, but he doesn't look proud either.
"Days over." Dad says. No explanation, no room for questions.
He steps aside so Tsireya slip past, then turns and disappears back outside himself to where sa'nok was.
We climb into our hammock, everyone wriggling and pushing for space. I squeeze myself between Lo'ak and Neteyam. It takes a moment for the net to stop swaying.
The silence stretches.
"Bro, where were you?" I say aloud, it was just us, sully siblings, in the mauri, I didn't need to worry about mom or dad.
Lo'ak sighs, long and tired. "Y/n..."
"No, tell us." Neteyam adds in. "Everyone was freaking out. We thought we lost you."
Loak snorts softly. "I wasn't in danger. I swear."
"You were gone."
"Gone. gone." Kiri adds shifting her body so she could be apart of the conversation.
He turns his head to each of us. "I found... a friend. He saved me."
Hearing that we all bunch up together, waiting for Lo'ak to further explain what happened.
"That's it?" I squint at him, "You couldn't have tried to befriend someone inside of the reef?"
"Yeah like Aonung, Rotxo?" Tuk added.
"Not Aonung."
"Yeah he's a bully."
"Fish lipped bully."
At that we all laughed as we got back into our sleeping positions, this was nice ending the day off with laughter instead of dads commands.
The net sways as someone shifts. Sa'nok enters, humming a soft note across the mauri, a signal for us to sleep. I close my eyes.
"It was a tulkun." I hear Lo'ak whisper to me as I opened my eyes.
"A what?" i whisper yell at him, he just closes his eyes and turns to face the other direction.
Then I curl closer to the net, letting the water-scented breeze move through the kelku.
A tulkun?
[previous] [next]
short ahh chapter, idc the next chapter is already done i just need to polish ittt yayyyy and that one is long asf😞🤘im tryna get these chapters OUTTTTT so jan i can do avatar 3 thingiessss i wanna be caught uppppp. okay maybe it wont be outtt when i said, im so dizzy like my vision ain’t too insightful💔💔😔
