sterek | 30k so far | ao3 (still a work in progress!)
Tags: Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), The Hale Family Lives (Teen Wolf), Pining Derek Hale, True Mates, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe - The Duff (2015) Fusion, Slow Burn, Full Shift Werewolves, Made Up Wolf Lore, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, minor Kate Argent/Derek Hale
Summary;
Matt stood there next to him, red solo cup in hand, and his camera dangled from the strap around his neck.
"You know what your problem is?"
Stiles felt his eyes slightly widen, taken aback because what the fuck does that mean?
"Interesting way to greet someone, dude," He tried to sound playful, but he was slightly annoyed now, so he was sure that was noticeable in his voice and expression. Matt ignored his comment completely and turned around to look outside through the open sliding door, pointing a finger toward it with the hand still around his cup.
Stiles looked over his shoulder at what -who- Matt was pointing at. Scott stood there, talking and laughing with Liam, who had made his way outside without him noticing. Liam's friends, Mason and Hayden, were there too, accompanied by Isaac, who dragged Boyd and Erica along. Then there were Danny and Jackson, with Lydia huddled close to Allison.
"You're their DUFF."
"Their what?"
"DUFF- designated ugly fat friend," Stiles stayed silent and shifted his gaze back to the friend group outside, "You and I? We make them look better, more popular, more desirable." All Stiles could do was laugh.
for anyone interested in this fic, first chapter has been posted to my ao3 account. it will only be available there but i will give you guys the link to it, of course.
i considered posting it once i had it finished, but then i was like "if i can come up with the ending, i will start posting this fic" and less than ten minutes later i had a whole plot for the ending so .-. here it is.
still dont know how many chapters it will have, but hopefully its less than twenty :v
sterek | 30k so far | ao3 (still a work in progress!)
Tags: Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), The Hale Family Lives (Teen Wolf), Pining Derek Hale, True Mates, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe - The Duff (2015) Fusion, Slow Burn, Full Shift Werewolves, Made Up Wolf Lore, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, minor Kate Argent/Derek Hale
Summary;
Matt stood there next to him, red solo cup in hand, and his camera dangled from the strap around his neck.
"You know what your problem is?"
Stiles felt his eyes slightly widen, taken aback because what the fuck does that mean?
"Interesting way to greet someone, dude," He tried to sound playful, but he was slightly annoyed now, so he was sure that was noticeable in his voice and expression. Matt ignored his comment completely and turned around to look outside through the open sliding door, pointing a finger toward it with the hand still around his cup.
Stiles looked over his shoulder at what -who- Matt was pointing at. Scott stood there, talking and laughing with Liam, who had made his way outside without him noticing. Liam's friends, Mason and Hayden, were there too, accompanied by Isaac, who dragged Boyd and Erica along. Then there were Danny and Jackson, with Lydia huddled close to Allison.
"You're their DUFF."
"Their what?"
"DUFF- designated ugly fat friend," Stiles stayed silent and shifted his gaze back to the friend group outside, "You and I? We make them look better, more popular, more desirable." All Stiles could do was laugh.
i wanted to make this sort of a short fic, not much plot going on but... i've derailed and i'm writing something completely different than what i had in mind...
not saying i'm mad about it, but i'm stressing myself with everything i got going on lol
alright, i'll be the one to say it. ao3 and tumblr becoming "mainstream" did so much damage to the community and the writers. i have seen loads of videos and posts about:
1. people hating on writers and fics. writing is something we do for free and for fun. if you stumble upon a fanfic that isn't necessarily your cup of tea or you just don't like, scroll. dont read it. literally leave their page. you don't know if this could be the author's first work that they're so excited about, you dont know if the language they're writing in isn't their first language, you dont know that the writer could be a literal teen and loads of other reasons. fanfictions don't HAVE to be perfect. you write what you want to write because we do it for fun and enjoyment and we want to share that to the world. seriously, what is the wrong with that?..
2. x reader consumers getting WAY too entitled. the number of tiktoks i've seen that say "i run a strict program when it comes to reading fanfics." girl you aint running shit. this is FAN FICTION you're reading. F A N F I C T I O N. there is no denying that most fanfiction writes are beyond talented but just because you read one fanfic that exceeds your expectations doesn't give you the right to talk down on others that don't. people have their own personal writing style, their way of doing things and you talking shit on that isn't right.
at the end of the day, we are all humans, reading and writing is what we do and what we're meant to do. and for you to talk shit about a person WRITING is so insane. we are humans. not some robots that you can tell what to do so you can consume it.
i've seen so so many authors take down their fanfics and losing all motivation to write because of a hate comment. DONT LIKE DONT READ‼️
and to every author reading this, this community values your work and your contribution. we love u and, please, never let anyone's negative words have an effect on you.
it's been a couple years since i've talked to you last but you suddenly popped into my mind today and i decided to look for your blog again,,, i'm really glad to see you doing well and it warms my heart that you're still around! no worries if you don't answer but i wish you well dude!!
heyyy~
well, its nice to have you back :3
its also been a few years since i've had people just wanting to chat in my inbox so i haven't been around as i used to, wouldn't mind it though
i am doing good, better than i expected at least lol hope you're doing well too~ will try to continue sticking around for as long as i can too hehe
How long have you been writing? And how long have you been posting in wattpad and Tumblr? Really curious about your journey, are there times that you feel burned out or went days/weeks not writing?
Oh, hey there~
Well… I've been writing since I was eleven, back then I used to write for 1D and 5SOS (very badly too, I still cringe remembering it) and I've been posting on Wattpad for the same amount of time so… Thirteen years wow .-. I feel old. I've had many accounts throughout the years and when I had finally settled on keeping my current name, I was banned so I moved my stuff over to Tumblr and Ive been posting here for five years already, started February 2021, feels like a shorter time actually.
And of course I feel burn out and don't write at all. The longest I've gone without writing was almost two years, starting 2024 and until early 2026 I believe. Like I might've posted stuff that was prewritten stuff that just needed editing, but now I've been writing so much and I love it. I kinda forgot how much I love to just write what I want and not stick to a specific genre or fandom or x reader. Because while I love writing what people want me to write, I struggle with it. I think I've been on a burn out state since I wrote for kinktober back in 2022 and I kinda never recovered from that. I think a lot of stuff I've written after that is just… Bad. Then I had a lot of issues late 2024 that prevented me from writing at all, and now I'm getting better, I'm moving past those issues I had and I'm trying to write at least a hundred words everyday, so just I don't push myself too hard.
And on top of that I also have to study and finish school so yeah, kinda stressed these past 3-4 years.
Wasn't expecting to write so much but hey, I thought this was a good time to kinda let everyone know why I haven't been posting at all or just around as often as I used to. Kinda lost my passion to writing on the way but I got it back and I will be writing stuff I like and I wanna read.
Hopefully, this was what you expected I would say 😅
sterek | 30k so far | ao3 (still a work in progress!)
Tags: Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), The Hale Family Lives (Teen Wolf), Pining Derek Hale, True Mates, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Alternate Universe - The Duff (2015) Fusion, Slow Burn, Full Shift Werewolves, Made Up Wolf Lore, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, minor Kate Argent/Derek Hale
Summary;
Matt stood there next to him, red solo cup in hand, and his camera dangled from the strap around his neck.
"You know what your problem is?"
Stiles felt his eyes slightly widen, taken aback because what the fuck does that mean?
"Interesting way to greet someone, dude," He tried to sound playful, but he was slightly annoyed now, so he was sure that was noticeable in his voice and expression. Matt ignored his comment completely and turned around to look outside through the open sliding door, pointing a finger toward it with the hand still around his cup.
Stiles looked over his shoulder at what -who- Matt was pointing at. Scott stood there, talking and laughing with Liam, who had made his way outside without him noticing. Liam's friends, Mason and Hayden, were there too, accompanied by Isaac, who dragged Boyd and Erica along. Then there were Danny and Jackson, with Lydia huddled close to Allison.
"You're their DUFF."
"Their what?"
"DUFF- designated ugly fat friend," Stiles stayed silent and shifted his gaze back to the friend group outside, "You and I? We make them look better, more popular, more desirable." All Stiles could do was laugh.
Author's note: I apologize for how long this chapter took me to write, I just couldn't figure out how to word it. I've also been going back to teen wolf hyperfixation (specifically sterek) and I've been working on a fic for it. Don't know how long next chapter will take me so, again, I apologize. Thank you everyone for reading, makes me happy to know you guys enjoy this little fic :3
The soft crackling of the fire as it began to dim was the only thing they could hear in the kelku for a few seconds, and finally, Jake let out a deep breath that made his sons tense for an instant.
"That's enough for today," he spoke, his voice firm but calm, "All of you, go to sleep, we'll talk in the morning." Lo'ak opened his mouth, probably to argue with what Tuk had said, but Neytiri shot him a look that shut him up.
Neteyam was the first to nod, ushering Kiri and Tuk toward their hammocks, always the responsible one. Tuk glanced at her parents, rubbing her eyes as she felt a yawn creeping in, and showed them a sleepy smile before standing up and letting Neteyam lift her up to her hammock above Lo'ak's. She continued to remain unaware of the map she had drawn for her parents.
Lo'ak huffed as he also made his way to his hammock, each one of them accepting their mother's good night kiss before her and their father walked out of the kelku. When they couldn't hear their footsteps anymore, Lo'ak broke the silence.
"Tuk, why did you tell them where he was?" He whispered sharply at her, and all she did was hum a song quietly.
"Because they asked," she replied, oh so innocently, making Lo'ak roll his eyes. Kiri and Neteyam glanced at each other, deciding to stay quiet since they knew Lo'ak, he would never actually get mad at Tuk, no matter what she did or said.
"That's not-" he rubbed a hand on his face, trying to keep himself calm and not snap at his sister, "We weren't supposed to tell them."
"But he's nice," Tuk leaned over her hammock to look at him, and Lo'ak stared at her with a subtle frown, "He saved me," she added as if they had forgotten about that detail despite telling their parents less than ten minutes ago, "And mom and dad always tell us we should let them know when something important happens."
She smiled at her brother, her eyes struggling to stay open.
"So they can say thank you."
Well, Lo'ak had no argument for that.
Quite a few meters away from the kelku, were Jake and Neytiri, silently waiting for the murmur of their people to quiet down. They looked at each other for a second. Neytiri's eyes held worry, while Jake's held concern, thinking about what their next move was going to be.
"Our kids have been spending time every day... with a strange boy we didn't know about," Jake was the one to break the silence, watching his mate's hand lift to her mouth.
"But he saved our baby, and..." Neytiri took a deep breath, staring off into their home where the fire had already gone out, and no longer cast shadows along the interior walls, "He watches over them? I don't think this boy is... a threat to them, ma Jake."
He stared at her, and while he agreed, part of him couldn't help but believe this boy was more than just a harmless boy living in the forest. They had to leave so many things behind when the Sky People returned, and he knew he would be hunted, considering he was labelled as a traitor.
For all he knew, he could be an Avatar, sent by the RDA to track and find Jake Sully. But then he would quickly come to the conclusion that, if that were the case, the RDA would've already found them. Damn, two of his kids have human features, it wouldn't take long to piece together that they were his children and get a whole army to High Camp.
So...
"Tomorrow morning, before sunrise... we go out, and we find this boy," Neytiri looked at him with a confused expression on her face, and Jake gently held her hands, "I wanna make sure he won't be a threat to our family."
With that, she nodded with a sigh and gently pulled Jake along with her as they walked back to their kelku to rest the day's worry.
///////
(M/n) woke up without knowing why.
He wasn't hungry or thirsty, and there wasn't any sunlight shining through the leaves, no animal noise to explain why he woke up with a sharp inhale, his body going rigid before his mind could clear up the fogginess of sleep.
He stayed on the branch, taking deep breaths to calm his increasing heartbeat, ears twitching as he picked up the sounds of the forest. Nothing was different, the rushing sound of the river water remained, the hum of insects, the rustling of leaves against one another. He remained still, listening.
Nothing close, nothing immediate. But that didn't prevent a subtle frown from showing on his face and his tail from curling slowly closer to him, feeling shivers run down his arms.
The only reason he was so on edge and tense was the sudden dream that woke him up, and he couldn't even remember what it was about, but his body seemed to remember, especially the particular scent of smoke that burned his nose and closed his throat, turning every breath into pain. And that alone triggered the memory of the day his village fell to the Sky People.
He took a deep breath and shook his head, trying to dissipate the still fresh wound of how he lost it all. His hand reached for his bow, needing something familiar to ground himself, and holding his mother's bow always seemed to work just fine. He began slowly swaying his head side to side as he quietly hummed his mother's songcord, closing his eyes and for a moment... he felt the warm embrace of his mom, shushing his nightmares away.
His jaw tightened for a moment, and his body went rigid, his ears twitching at a sound that shouldn't be there. It was way too early for the siblings to be coming around to visit, and animals didn't move that quietly and slowly around the forest.
Someone was there, approaching, and whatever it was, it didn't want to be spotted.
(M/n) exhaled through his nose, slow and silent, and began to move.
He gathered his few belongings with practiced ease, hands steady despite the tension coiled tight in his chest, and carefully tucked everything away beneath leaves and behind thick vines, making sure nothing stood out.
When he was done, he hesitated before returning to his usual branch, he carried his bow across his chest, gripped a vine, and began climbing higher, where the leaves grew thick and the branches overlapped in tangled layers. From there, the cover was better, the shadows heavier, but his view narrowed, his line of sight broken by foliage and dark.
It was a risk, but it was safer if he managed to stay unnoticed. Still, he chose to stay there, pressing his back closer to the trunk, carefully gripping his bow and holding an arrow on the string, and he took slow, quiet breaths, using his hearing the best he could.
The birds weren't reacting as abruptly as they usually did, and the footsteps he barely managed to hear were slower, controlled, synced. The scents carried over by the wind where foreing.
His instincts were screaming at him to hide because he was being hunted. From that height, he would be harder to spot, but from that height, he would be unable to escape unharmed.
He peeked through the leaves for a moment, mismatched eyes scanning what little he could see through the gaps, and he caught the moving shadow of a woman, quiet, with a purpose in her stride. He recognized her stance, the same stance Neteyam had, a steady and firm grip on her bow. She wasted no movements, and that made him hold still, breath held.
Moving carefully, he saw the woman momentarily glance behind her, and (M/n) caught sight of another figure, bigger, with less delicate movements, but sharp and precise.
The male had the same hairstyle he saw on Spider, but while that was quite eye-catching, something else snatched his attention. His hands.
Not only was he holding a Sky People weapon, the scent of metal itching (M/n)'s nose, but the man had four fingers.
Who else had four fingers that weren't Lo'ak or Kiri...?
A memory flashed in his mind. His chubby baby hands holding onto strange-looking Na'vi hands, his mismatched eyes looking up at—
"Toruk Makto..." He mumbled to himself, immediately hiding when he got a brief glimpse at the way the woman's ears twitched. He didn't move, holding his breath, back pressing against the rough bark of the tree, fingers digging in it, feeling a growing burning sensation in his lungs.
He heard a breath exhale and then the quiet clinking of beads knocking each other, "He is not here..." the woman said, her steps approaching, and (M/n) hopes she can't see him.
"You think they lied to us?" The man asked, lowering his gun. (M/n) took the risk and peeked through again.
The woman was standing by the swing he made, gently touching it and looking around the place. Her eyes spotted proof of their kids being there, but there was no forest boy in sight, "The were here, the swing Tuk mentioned is here..." she spoke again, her voice a little firmer than before, "Maybe... we got here too late."
(M/n) didn't miss the familiar name, and it didn't take too long for him to figure out the people in front of him were the siblings' parents, but why were they there? He wasn't sure, and her saying 'forest boy' only made him assume they were looking for him, for what? But again... he wasn't sure.
He watched as Toruk Makto -Jake Sully- glanced around the place, eyes hard and muscles tense, and slowly the grip on his gun began to loosen, golden eyes soon landing on his mate, "Well then... Time for plan B. Let's go," he spoke slowly but with a firm tone, which made the woman nod once, leading the way back to where they came from.
(M/n) watched how both of them glanced behind them briefly before disappearing from his sight, and even as he watched them leave, he spent a good two minutes steadying his breath, he wasn't sure if they were really gone, and he didn't feel like moving from his hiding spot, keeping his guard up.
He remained sat on the branch behind the leaves, still feeling the burning of his lungs and the pressure on his chest, but in the quiet of the rising morning, he sighed as he connected the dots of how those two Na'vi were Neteyam, Lo'ak, Kiri and Tuk's parents. He wondered if he was in trouble with them because... Why would they come looking for him so early in the morning, otherwise?
His head hit the tree with a soft thump, and he blinked at the sunlight slowly peaking through the leaves, silently wondering to himself the reason they were looking for him. He hoped... It wasn't anything bad.
///////
Already arriving back at High Camp, Neytiri and Jake got off their Ikran and walked further inside to the group of Na'vi bustling around doing their thing. They stopped their kids getting stuff prepared to head out.
They glanced at each other and made their way toward them, cutting their path, "Kids," the four of them stopped immediately at the sound of their father's voice. Neteyam stood straighter and slightly ahead of his younger siblings.
"Yes, sir?" He quietly asked, trying to remain calm.
"Where are you going?" Neteyam and Kiri looked at each other, unsure whether they should be honest or not.
Thankfully, Lo'ak stepped in, "Just out," he said nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal going out of High Camp -which wasn't because they went out everyday-, but his words made Jake and Neytiri stare at each other with a knowing look in their golden eyes.
"Well..." Jake took a deep breath, and felt his mate's hand gently touching his arm, and he let her take charge, taking half a step back.
Neytiri stepped closer and held her oldest son's face in her hands for a second, doing the same to Lo'ak, Kiri and Tuk, showing them a small smile.
"Why don't you invite over this forest boy friend of yours?" The four of them looked at their mother with different expressions, but Tuk was the most excited of them.
"We can?" She rushed over to hug her mother, looking up at her with such a happy glint in her eyes that it made Neytiri's smile grow fonder.
She nodded, reaching to move Tuk's braids away from her face, "If this boy saved our little girl then the least he deserves is a thank you."
Kiri letting out an doubtful hum caught the attention of her parents.
"I'm not sure if he'll come over though," Neteyam and Lo'ak nodded in agreement, making Tuk's mood drop slightly. Jake sighed and stepped closer again, bringing Kiri closer to him.
"Whenever he's ready, he's welcomed here."
Soon after giving the kids a few more words to take care of themselves and be back before dark, Jake and Neytiri walked away from them.
Spider took that chance to approach the Sully siblings, catching the end of a conversation the brothers were having, "Invite him over? I don't think..."
"He will probably deny the invitation," Neteyam turned toward Kiri as he spoke, who was trying to comfort Tuk, who was getting increasingly sad at the though of the forest boy not wanting to come to their home.
"It would be even more fun if he was here," she quietly whined, which earned her a sad look from her older siblings, and Spider decided to join in their conversation, stopping to stand next to Lo'ak.
"Invite the ghost to High Camp? I mean, won't hurt to just ask him, right?" He asked, facing the four siblings with a shrug on his shoulders. Tuk seemed to light up like the stars in the night sky.
"Maybe if we tell him how fun home is he'll come," she didn't give anyone a chance to explain to her that 'fun' wouldn't be enough of a reason because she took off running toward the walking path off the Hallelujah Mountains.
Kiri sighed, frowning and following after her sister, "We'll talk about this on the way, let's go."
Fanfic is a great way to practice self-indulgence while writing. It doesn’t even have to be good, it just exists purely for your pleasure, be a little freak about it. Worry about quality and what other people think when it comes to works you intend to publish in a formal setting
Neteyam Sully x Na'vi!Gender-Neutral!Reader [Angst]
Summary: Five times Neteyam got hurt protecting you, and the one time you got hurt protecting him.
Author's note: hurt/comfort, childhood best friends, implied friends to lovers, protective!neteyam, protective!reader, neteyam getting hurt repeatedly, 2nd person pov, canon adjacent, no pronouns used, no mentions of (M/n).
Masterlist.
Avatar: The Way of Water
Thinking about it now, you've never really been alone, especially not when the Sully children spent every second of their day with you. Neteyam always protecting hiis siblings, watching over them to make sure they don't get hurt. Kiri being the peace maker, except when it came to her younger brother, and Lo'ak, causing trouble and being reckless, still too curious about everything around him, and then there was you, Neteyam's shy best friend.
While Lo'ak and Kiri tried to get you to play with them, Neteyam let you do things at your own pace, always by your side, protecting you too. He would treat you like his siblings, teasing yet protective of them, always taking the blame for them, tending to their injuries as small as they may be, teaching them to be careful when walking the paths, telling jokes and stories to get them to stop crying.
The way Neteyam cared for his siblings made you smile, trying to be like him, a reassuring and safe space for those around you.
The first time Neteyam ever bled for you, neither of you understood what it meant.
You were around seven years old, still too small to be running along the tree roots without proper adult supervision, but the forest was your home, and you believed it would catch you if you fell.
It didn't.
You were laughing and jumping from one root to another, trying not to touch the mossy dirt, when you landed wrong on a root and slipped, a sharp gasp tearing from your throat as your body began to tilt forward.
Neteyam had been telling you to be careful because you could fall, but you didn't listen, and now here you were, about to fall and probably end up with many cuts and bruises.
You remember the panic you felt in your chest as you approached the ground, ready to hit and not cry because you brought this upon yourself. But then there was the feeling of someone grabbing your arm, the strength of the grip actually kinda painful.
Neteyam hissed when the tree bark scraped his hand raw, his feet skidding before he managed to brace himself, and for a moment, you hung there, letting you realize just how far you would've fallen if Neteyam hadn't caught you in time. Then, with a strength that surprised both of you equally, he hauled you over until you managed to balance yourself on the root you slipped from.
Once you regained your footing and the initial scare dissipated, you held his hands.
The hand that held you only had a scratch on the back of it, but the hand that held onto the bark was bleeding, not a lot, but enough to freak you out, pieces of wood sticking to his palms, drawing out blood, and you felt tears flooding your eyes at the realization that Neteyam got hurt beacuse of you being reckless and careless.
"I'm sorry, Teyam," you mumbled, panic spiking at the thought of his dad scolding you, or worse, your mom, "I didn't mean-"
"It's okay," he said quickly, cutting you off, afraid you would start crying when he noticed your eyes getting watery. He hid his hands behind his back, shoulders squared, and chin lifted in a way that you would recognize far too well, "Didn't even hurt."
That was a lie. You knew it was, you saw it in the way his hands trembled, and fingers twitched before he tried to hide them.
You reached your hand to his wrist, "You're bleeding," Neteyam hummed, as if he had just realized that detail.
"You didn't fall," he said instead, as if that was enough explanation.
Later, back at the village, Neytiri would scold both of you, worried about both of your safety, hugging Neteyam tightly. Jake would lecture you about safety and responsibility. After that, your father would tell Neteyam he should have let you fall and call for help, just so you could learn action and consequence.
But in that moment, when every possible adult was done with their scolding or lectures, sitting together on the woven mat of the Sully's family kelku, the soft hum of the forest around them, you pressed leaves against Neteyam's palm just like your mother had taught you, and he watched you like you were doing something sacred.
"Don't do that again," you mumbled, and Neteyam hummed.
"Do what?" You glanced up at Neteyam with a pout and a small frown on your brow.
"Hurt yourself just to protect me," Neteyam silently smiled but said nothing.
You hoped that would be the first and last time Neteyam would hurt himself while protecting you. Boy, you were wrong.
///////
By the time you were around ten, falling didn't scare you anymore, and Neteyam's scars were almost invisible if you didn't know he had them.
You were out with him, Lo'ak, Kiri, and Spider, and you walked ahead without a care in the world, definitely going further than you were meant to, just beyond the familiar paths, where the forest grows thicker, and the ground dipped unevenly. It wasn't forbidden exactly, just discouraged, which -to kids your age- felt like an invitation.
The viperwolf didn't announce itself.
There was no warning, no rustle of leaves, just a sudden snarl and flash of teeth appearing in front of you. You froze. Neteyam didn't.
He moved without hesitation, shoving you back hard enough that you stumbled and fell. The world tilted, the ground slamming into your side as Neteyam's body collided with the animal instead. You heard his grunts of pain when you grounded yourself.
The viperwolf's claws raked across his side before it retreated, startled by the sound of approaching voices. Lo'ak, Kiri, and Spider were shouting your names in the distance. You scrambled to your feet, heart pounding, and ran to Neteyam.
He was on his knees, one hand pressed against his side, blood seeping between his fingers, dripping to the ground, and some staining his loincloth. Your stomach dropped.
"Teyam," you mumbled, voice small and frightened, "You're hurt," he shook his head immediately, jaw clenched as he looked at you up and down, worry and pain swirling in his golden eyes.
"Are you okay?" You huffed and shook your head, trying to get a better look at his injury, but he held your hand, "Are you okay?" He asked again.
You stared into his eyes and realized he wasn't going to let you until you replied.
"Yeah, I'm okay, but that's not-" your hands hovered over his, afraid to touch him, "You're bleeding," Neteyam looked down, and just like the first time, he seemed surprised about the fact that he got hurt.
His ears flicked back, slightly scared, but he forced himself to look brave, "It's not bad," he said, though his voice wavered.
"Neteyam!"
Neytiri's voice came from behind him, her breath catching at the sight of both of them on the dirt, Jake coming up behind her, mumbling stuff under his breath you couldn't understand.
He picked his son up, telling him to keep pressure on the wound, and rushed back to their village. You followed silently behind, making brief eye contact with Neteyam when he looked over his dad's shoulder.
He was taken to the tsahìk's tent, and Neytiri took her time to try to calm your trembling body. She hugged you when you told her what happened, and she took you to your parents, speaking privately with your father as your mother held you in her arms, listening to you mumbling about Neteyam getting hurt again, despite telling yourself you would never let him get hurt again.
When your father came back, he grounded you, and you weren't allowed to go outside the village.
//////
At thirteen, everything felt different after iknimaya.
The world seemed wider from the sky, brighter, louder, alive in a way that made your chest ache with it. Riding your ikran beside Neteyam's felt like freedom, wind tearing laughter from your throat as you banked and dove together.
You trusted the air, just like you trusted the forest so many years ago, and even after that, you didn't learn to stay alert, trusting or not.
The storm came fast, Neteyam had noticed, and held himself steady on his ikran, ready to call for you to head back because it was dangerous. He saw the clouds rolling in, thick and dark, wind turning sharp and unpredictable, making it harder to maneuver.
Your ikran shrieked as a sudden gust knocked you off balance, wings faltering as the sky seemed to tilt sideways. You lost control for a terrifying second, the bond wavered, fear bleeding through tsaheylu, panic spiraling too fast to catch.
Neteyam saw it all. He immediately rushed to you, shouting your name, and he urged his ikran closer, one hand releasing its grip to reach for you, "Stabilize!" He yelled, voice nearly torn away by the wind. Another gust slammed into you, harder this time.
Your ikran dipped with a screech, and you felt yourself slipping, fingers losing purchase as your body slid sideways on the saddle.
Neteyam reached for your wrist just in time. He yanked you back as your ikran cried in distress.
The force of it wrenched his shoulder violently, a sharp crack sounding over the roar of the wind, making him cry out. As you managed to steady yourself again, your ikran did the same, wings beating hard as you clung to the reins, breath ragged. Neteyam didn't let you go until you were secure and back on position, didn't even look at himself until the danger had passed.
When you looked over, his arm hung wrong, "Neteyam, your shoulder-" you spoke, voice shaking from the scare.
"It's fine," he insisted automatically, but his face had lost color, lips pressed tight as he tried -and failed- to move his arm.
"Come on, let's go with the tsahìk," Neteyam didn't argue with you.
The moment you landed, you held his uninjured arm and quickly yet carefully took him to his grandmother's tent.
Jake noticed where you two were heading and went after you, where he heard his son had a dislocated, probably fractured, shoulder. Seeing you were involved, yet again, he guessed this was another moment where his son played saviour, getting himself hurt instead of letting you get hurt. Jake, alongside Mo'at, got Neteyam to sit, and together they fixed his shoulder back in place, the sharp pain knocking the air out of Neteyam, and they immobilized his shoulder right after, placing leaves with some cooling medicine to prevent swelling. Neteyam was told not to do any heavy work for about two to three weeks.
Jake made sure his son would rest, and giving the circumstance of how Neteyam got injured, this time neither of you were scolded about it.
You couldn't prevent the storm, and Neteyam wasn't going to let you fall into the void.
//////
By fifteen, the forest was no longer safe. With the humans returning and growing in the Na'vi territory with each day, their village was forced to flee to the Hallelujah Mountains for safety.
And now you formed part of Jake's war party to raid the RDA.
All the training you did in the past years was to prove yourself -and Neteyam- that you didn't need him to take the hit for you, that you could handle it yourself just fine, and Jake had seen your skills with the bow, your obedience when he gave orders, and your calm demeanour when stuff went sideways.
So now, you were flying patrol at the back of the formation. You were still a kid, so you weren't going to be placed on the front lines, but helping Toruk Makto in any way you could was already an honor.
Orders were simple. Stay high, watch the perimeter, do not engage unless I say.
Glancing up for a moment, you watched Neteyam and Lo'ak keeping an even greater distance between them and the war party. Neteyam smiled at you and greeted you, his gesture made you smile back at him, but someone called a demonship approaching before you could greet him too.
Your grip tightened on your ikran as you tried to get a better position to fire your arrows, but what you saw was a missile heading in your direction. You maneuvered the best you could, but the impact of the missile on the tree behind you shook you off balance, the smoke covered your sight as the flames rose, covering the sky in a thick and dark smoke cloud.
You swatted your hand around to dissipate it, but the density of it was cutting off your air quickly, making you cough and lose balance on your ikran, who was also beginning to panic as they felt your panic and fear through the bond.
Then there was the now familiar sound of thunder piercing through the sky, and suddenly you felt a horrible pain, hearing your ikran screech in pain, and noticed shrapnel had pierced through its wing.
Due to this, you began to lose altitude, and even though you tried to stabilize, the smoke, heat, and deafening sounds all around made it nearly impossible.
The moment the missile collided, Neteyam was already on his way to help, Lo'ak next to him, hurriedly explaining the situation to their father, but he wasn't going to wait for a reply, "I'm going," he barked, not waiting for permission.
"Neteyam-!" Jake's voice snapped at his son, but he couldn't do anything as he fought the Sky People approaching their position.
Neteyam entered the smoke cloud, following the sound of your coughing, and dove under your ikran, trying to bring both your ikran and you some stability.
Another missile went off below them, and Neteyam's ikran took the brunt of it, the force slamming them sideways, then more thunder could be heard, piercing the sky. Neteyam cried out as something torn across his leg- shrapnel, hot and jagged, blood spraying against the wind.
You tightened your grip on the reins with a scream as you tried to get out of the smoke that hindered both of and your ikrans, and knowing Neteyam was under yours made you panic as you didn't want him to get hurt or crushed by them.
Thankfully, the demonship ceased fire as it blew to pieces, and your ikran was able to steady enough to land, letting out sounds that felt like a thanks to Neteyam's ikran as both had landed relatively safely. As soon as you landed, Neteyam got off to check on you, but he collapsed to one knee as soon as he touched ground.
Jake was there in seconds, hands steady, face tight with fear he didn't voice, Neytiri's cries echoed from the treeline as she did a round on Sa'ata. You knelt beside him, hands shaking as you pressed cloth to his leg, blood seeping through it too fast, "I told you to stay back," Jake said hoarsely.
Neteyam didn't look at his father, instead, his golden eyes sought you out.
"You okay?" He asked, breath ragged. You nodded, still feeling your throat tight because of the smoke you inhaled.
"Because of you," his mouth twitched, like that was enough.
On the way back, Neteyam rode with his dad, and you with Lo'ak, both of your ikrans taken back to High Camp by someone else. As the healers worked on their injured, you sat outside the kelku while Neteyam was being tended to, staring at your hand, no longer stained with his bright red blood.
This time he hadn't been injured by claws or storms or the forest, this time, it was war. And Neteyam was still stepping in front of you like it was the most natural thing in the world.
You were thankful that there were no casualties on this raid, until there was.
The white strip that went vertically from your forehead to above your belly button showed your grieving, tears gathering in your eyes, and anger firing in your chest as you gave your parents away to Eywa. You saw them when you connected to the Spirit Tree, telling you to take care of yourself and the Sullys, especially Neteyam since that boy loved to get injured for your sake.
///////
The reef never felt like it belonged to you.
You were learning, slowly, the sea was colder than it looked, heavier than the forest air, and every moment felt borrowed, like you were a guest in someone else's world. Still, you tried. You always did.
Neteyam stayed close... too close sometimes, Tsireya had pointed out once, gentle and curious, "He watches you more than the water," you had laughed it off, but the words stayed.
You were all out beyond the shallows when it happened.
The ilu beneath you tensed suddenly, muscles rippling in warning. Something large shifted in the distance- too close, too fast. You had gone out with Tsireya, Ao'nung, Rotxo, and Neteyam as they went after Lo'ak, who had gone out to meet Payakan.
Your breath caught as the shadow passed beneath you, enormous and wrong, slicing through the water with terrifying speed. You froze. Neteyam didn't.
While everyone else called to flee and head back, Neteyam dove with his ilu and shoved you back quite roughly, sending your ilu veering away just as the akula surged upward. The current slammed into him, knocking him from his mount. You felt your heart stop as you watched him tumble through the water, struggling to right himself as the akula circled back, drawn by the movement.
"Neteyam!" You called out for him, hearing Tsireya and Ao'nung call for you to get away and hide, but you made your way toward Neteyam, completely ignoring them, taking a deep breath and diving toward him.
He saw you and his eyes widened with fear, not for himself, but for you. He tried to signal you to leave, but you pushed your ilu to continue forward and held Neteyam just in time.
The akula slammed into the coral, breaking it into pieces that fell on top of you. You dodged them the best you could, but the akula swept from under you and knocked you off your ilu, causing your grip on Neteyam's hand to slip.
You broke the surface of the water and regained your breath, taking another deep breath before sinking back into the water. You blinked a few times and couldn't find Neteyam anywhere, and the akula was set on chasing you now. You called for your ilu and mounted them, urging them to swim away from the big predator chasing you, all the while still looking around for Neteyam.
And you spotted him slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean, strips of blood blooming around his head. With your jaw clenched, you gripped your knife and swerved to the side of the akula, burying the blade in its eye, twisting it, and hearing it wail from the pain. Before you could continue your attack, something slammed into the akula. And from underwater, you watched Lo'ak gripping the tulkun's fin.
While Payakan scared the akula away, you dove with your ilu to hold Neteyam and get him out of the water.
You held him carefully and resurfaced, "Guys, help! Neteyam's hurt!"
Lo'ak was the first one to dive to help, followed by Ao'nung and Rotxo, while you gently held Neteyam's head, feeling the warmth of his blood on your hand.
"He hit his head, careful," you mumbled as he got hauled on top of Payakan, and Lo'ak hurried his spirit brother to take them to the village quickly, "Teyam, stay with me, come on," Neteyam coughed the ocean water he had swallowed, and his eyes fluttered open, "Don't close your eyes, please, we're almost home."
He blinked once, and tried lifting his hand to your face, "You're home..." his hand fell halway up as his eyes closed again.
"Teyam? Neteyam!" You held his face carefully and leaned closer to him, "He's barely breathing...."
Lo'ak looked over his shoulder at you and his brother, "Faster, Payakan!" The tulkun let out a wail and began swimming as fast as he could.
Payakan got you as close to the village as he could, and Lo'ak called out for his father. You carried Neteyam with Ao'nung's help and rushed to the tsahìk's marui.
You stood there, staring at Neteyam as his blood stained everything it touched, hearing Ronal calling out to Tsireya and Ao'nung, while the muffled sound of Lo'ak's voice explained to Jake and Neytiri what happened. You stared, frozen in place, feeling the sticky sensation of Neteyam's blood on your hands, the memory of his unfocused eyes, and how he tried to reach for you before he passed out.
This wasn't a scrape. This wasn't a fracture that would heal clean. This was the cost of a pattern that had gone on too long.
"Come on, let's give the tsahìk room to work," you were gently dragged out of the marui by Neytiri, who took you over to the water and helped you clean the blood off of you with a cloth.
"Sorry..." you mumbled, eyes clouding with tears, but you held them back. Neytiri's moves faltered for a moment as she stared at you, "Neteyam always gets hurt because of me, I'm sorry..."
You felt your voice crack, and Neytiri gently held your face in her hands, making you look in her eyes.
"Neteyam is strong, and as stubborn as his father," she wiped a tear away, "He doesn't want you to get hurt because he cares about you too much," your jaw clenched and hands closed tightly.
"I wish... I could be the one to protect him, at least once," she smiled softly and patted your hair.
"Neteyam wouldn't let you."
Something in her eyes seemed nostalgic, as if remembering something, and her sight travelled to the silver scar on your neck.
"Not after that..." she mumbled loud enough for you to hear.
You couldn't remember how you got that scar, only that it'd been there since you could remember. No one wanted to tell you the story of it, but you knew Neteyam knew it, he would constantly look at it, and his eyes would get blurry for a moment.
Later, when the Sullys had visited Neteyam, you were allowed to see him too. He lay still, wrapped in bandages, his head, his torso, his arms, and one leg, his face pale, unlike the usual bright blue.
You sat beside him, fingers curled tightly on the fabric of your loincloth. You had watched him bleed for you your entire life. Had watched him throw himself into danger again and again, like it was instinct— like it was love.
And now, you were worried that one day... he wouldn't get back up.
//////
The demonship reeked of smoke and metal.
You followed after Neteyam when he cut Tsireya's and Tuk's cuff, urging them off the ship. He got Lo'ak free, and for a moment, you think this is it, you can leave now, but Lo'ak mentions Spider is still on board, and how they can't just leave him there.
The cool metal of the demonship makes perfect ground for sneaking, and with all the human cargo around, hiding is plenty easy. Finding Spider is rather easy, and now they have to find a way off the ship. Spider takes all of you to the moonpool, but you're soon spotted by one of the armed tawtute, and bullets spray in your direction, the piercing sound of the projectiles leaving your ears ringing.
Neteyam takes the gun from Lo'ak's hands and begins to shoot at the avatar, giving leeway to his brother and Spider to leave the ship, "Go, go, go!" He shouts as he fires again.
Before you could chase after them, more bullets ricochet of the metal around, and Neteyam curses as he runs out of bullets. Both of you look around for something- anything that could help you now, but then you hear it.
The bullets cease, and then there's the clinking sound of the magazine falling out. Now's your chance to escape.
Neteyam takes a step forward, and you go after him, and that's when you notice.
A semi-conscious human soldier behind some crates, bleeding, barely upright. But her hand closed around a nearby pistol. And she's shakily aiming.
At Neteyam.
He doesn't see her, but you do. And for a moment, you're back to being kids exploring the forest.
Your body moves forward before your mind catches up, and you push Neteyam over the railing. He yelps as he falls, your name catching in his throat. You follow after him, the echoing sound of the gun firing muffled by the ocean, and as your body splashes in the water, you feel it.
Your hand reaches for your side as Neteyam's voice breaks through the buzzing sound in your ears, "Everyone okay?" Lo'ak sends a relieved smile at his brother, and Spider lets out a huff-like laugh.
"We made it, holy shit," Neteyam can only smile for half a second at Lo'ak, when he realizes he didn't hear you reply, so he turns around.
That's when he sees you struggling to stay afloat, and he gets worried, so he aproaches you. And his worry turns to fear when he sees the water around you turning a crimson color, "Shit- Lo'ak!" He dives before you continue to sink deeper.
His hands are frantically pulling you closer, one arm hooking under yours. You're conscious, barely. And it burns. Your fingers are trembling as they can barely keep pressure on your wound, Neteyam's hand just above yours, while blood sweeps between your fingers, warm against the cold sea.
Lo'ak calls for the ilus, and quickly Neteyam bonds to his ilu, hauling you over with Spider's help, and he moves his hand to press over yours, "Stay with me," he says, and his voice is breaking.
You've heard his voice like that once... with the snake, in the forest, just two kids on an adventure...
Halfway there, Neteyam calls out to his dad, and the raw, desperate plea in his voice makes Jake worry. They help you off the ilu onto the wet rock, breathing going ragged as the pain on your side continues to increase. Neteyam is kneeling beside you immediately, both hands pressing down, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Don't," he breathes, taking a sharp inhale as he holds himself back from crying, "Don't you dare," you can't feel your fingers anymore, and your sight was blurring, but you find the strength to look over at Neteyam.
You feel his hands shaking and realize his eyes are watering. And you remember, the distant, forgotten memory came to you like a lightning strike. You remember the taste of copper in your mouth, the throbbing pain in your neck, the weightlessness of falling, and Neteyam's tiny voice outside the healers' tent, refusing to leave.
The scar in your neck feels ablaze, and for the first time, you understand. Neteyam wasn't just protecting you, he was trying to undo that day. Every time he stopped in front of danger, every time he bled, he was making sure you never had to again.
You smile weakly, "I guess..." you whisper, voice thin, "Now we're even," his breath catches in his throat.
"No- no, no, stay with me, don't-"
And that's the last thing you hear before everything fades away.
///////
A sharp inhale is what woke you up.
Pain shooting up your side, breath catching, and you try to steady yourself to prevent that pain from continuing. You look around, and realize you're in your marui, and the quiet breathing beside you tells you, you're not alone.
You turn your head and see Neteyam asleep, a frown on his brow and his hand wrapped loosely around yours, like he's afraid you'll disappear if he lets go. You don't fail to notice the dark circles under his eyes.
You squeeze his fingers, and he wakes up with a jolt. The relief that paints his face is raw, unmasked, eyes bright with tears as he leans his forehead to yours, breathing you in like you're air.
"I thought-" his voice broke.
"I know, I did it because I knew you would," your free hand lifts weakly to his cheek.
There's a moment of silence, and Neteyam realizes something. For the first time since he was four, something loosens inside him. You almost died for him- again. And he understands now, this isn't protection, it's shared instinct. Equal.
He nods slowly and leans closer to your hand, nuzzling against your palm.
From that day on, he stops throwing himself in front of everything, not because he loves you less, but because loving you means surviving with you. The scar on your neck, the scar on your side, they are no longer debts, they are proof you both chose each other, and lived.
