𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 ; 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦 chapter seven
Tok'ma was a beautiful ikran with green skin plastered with yellow and brown stripes. He was huge, almost as if he's been boarded in the middle of wars and battles. The creature was simply majestic, and the moment Navieh's eyes landed on him, it held eye contact with her as his rider, Neteyam started to prepare for their departure.
"His eyes are beautiful... and covert... and deep... as if he has a story to tell." Navieh continued to stare into Tokma's eyes, not breaking the contact. Even though Neteyam knew of how the girl had many instances that she acted lightheaded, he took notice of how her voice started to sound breathy and she was starting to act ditzy as if being hypnotized.
"You're thinking too much of it. He's just a silly ikran." Neteyam laughed as he stood next to her, leaning his head closer as if he expected her to look at him. But when she continued to not break eye contact with his ikran, he started to feel uneasy.
Neteyam narrowed his eyes for a milisecond and then decided to ruin the moment by 'accidentally' pushing his ikran's head to the side before he handed out his coat to her. "Wear this so you don't get cold, Navieh. I'll help you board, and we'll follow the others."
"Thanks," She grabbed the coat and wore the coat in no less than a second before she looked at Neteyam sharply and walked past him. With no warning, she took a deep breath and propelled herself up in the air, boarding the ikran with no worry.
Neteyam's eyes grew big just by seeing her reckless act, knowing fully well that she was still─ because of him, bleeding. "You could've given me a head's up! Are you alright?" He yelled, grabbing Navieh's hand which caught her off guard.
"Don't I look alright to you?" She sneered at him, knowing fully well that he was thinking that she still needed his help, when in fact, she didn't. Her abdomen hurt a little and stinged, but nothing aside from that felt excruciating. "You're overreacting. Hurry up, Lo'ak and Kiri are already flying their ikran. We're gonna lose sight of them."
Neteyam couldn't fully grasp what just happened, but from the way he looks at it, a really pretty na'vi girl just boarded his ikran with no signs of difficulty. He was impressed, much more over the fact that she was able to tame his ikran with just a few scratches on the head. If it was that easy to tame his ikran, how long would it take for her to just tame him as well?
He laughed lightly just at the thought. But surprisingly, Navieh felt disturbed by his sudden laughter and harshly pulled his hair. This was something she grew as a habit, pulling people's hair when she's weirded out. A habit she picked up from her adoptive mother. "The hell are you laughing for?" She bellowed.
"Are you sure you're not purposely letting us fly behind so you could drop me off the face of Pandora? Or do you want to hurry it up so I don't steal Tokma from you?"
Neteyam strutted forward from her warning and immediately nodded his head, denying her absurd speculations. "I'm a good man! I promise! I'm not going to ever hurt you again." He submissively speaks, gently holding the hand that Navieh used to hold onto his hair as if he was telling it to let go.
Navieh sighs and did let go eventually. She honestly expected that the boy would pull her off his ikran and leave her behind, but it seems she's just being pessimistic per usual. "You're silly, Neteyam."
Neteyam waited no more and boarded Tok'ma as soon as he connected his queue with him. He sat behind Navieh, and was about to propel them into the air, but he paused to ask a question. "Are you comfortable with me holding you?" He whispers behind his shoulder as he leaned his head, hoping she'd hear.
She nodded lightly as she bites her lips and held onto Neteyam's free arm. She inhaled heavily, closed her eyes, and repeatedly told herself not to scream. Navieh squirmed a little from the contact and gulped, feeling Neteyam's hand grabbing onto the side of her waist with no injury.
"Are we up yet?" She asks rather softly upon feeling the strong scent of the ocean in her olfactory senses, and how tender the wind embraced her skin as she feel Neteyam's breath hitting her neck.
"Open your eyes." She hears him. His gentle way of speaking was enough to enlighten her, trusting him fully by the way he had spoken to her. And when she followed his request, her eyes sparkled as she sees the beauty that was quick to awe her.
Just before her, she saw something she's never seen in her life. Yes, she lived in the reefs and traveled through dozens of clans in the oceans, but never in her life did she expect that she'd see the ocean that embraced her existence from the air, from above.
The clouds looked like they were just by her reach but nevertheless so clear and pristine, the ocean looked breathless from above and its beauty can be seen from the air. The sky showcased even more of the visionary beauty, looking absolutely splendid with how gradient it looked from the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise.
A few meters afar, she could see Kiri and Lo'ak waving at her from their ikrans, a distance enough for her to hear their laughter. They had smiles, showing just how they have the same opinions with thinking of how beautiful the sight just is. She saw how Jake Sully and Neytiri slowed down to be on par with her and Neteyam, and she couldn't help but smile.
How heavenly it looked, it just showed from how she started to ease up. Her shoulders melted into Neteyam's chest and a smile started creeping on her face. "Do you have anything to say?" The boy behind her asks, and suddenly she feels embarrassed about how she acted like a child seeing something so beautiful for the first time.
Navieh wanted to say how beautiful it was, and how she was kind of thankful she even got to experience the feeling of being one with the air, but all that left her mouth was an anxious request. "Please promise not to drop me."
Behind her words, Neteyam could deeply see through her. She was worried, and it disappointed him. Did she really think he'd drop her? He mumbled something in her ear, causing Navieh to look at him briefly before sighing in relief.
"Only a fool would drop a girl like you."
There has been many instances where Tsireya has covered up the past escapades Navieh had taken over the course of years. She didn't necessarily feel troubled in covering up her adoptive sister's fun and reckless little ways of enjoying herself, but this time, Tsireya couldn't come up with any excuses anymore.
Now that it got to the point that she faced both her parents after just commanding a hoard of the clan warriors to set sail and find her elder sister who's been missing for three days, almost going four. Tsireya bowed her head in unease as both Ronal and Aonung gave her a frustrated look and of disapproval. She could feel herself getting tiny every second that passed.
"Tsireya, I am asking you one more time, where has your sister gone?! I've heard enough of these excuses!" Ronal shrieked, starting to sound like she was going mad while she walked in circles in the Marui. Despite Tonowari's countless reassurance, she never really did stop a second of worrying. And Tsireya couldn't blame her, as Navieh was her family too and she was just as worried as her mother.
"Mother, I─ I don't know... I thought she'd be back by dawn the other day so... I really don't know..." She reasons, looking at her mother one more time. Tsireya faced the same question a few days ago. Ronal only sighed as Tonowari ushered his youngest daughter, speaking no disappointment to her, but to Navieh's untold whereabouts.
The Awa'atlu clan has already taken action in the search for Navieh, however, all efforts of finding the girl ended in vain. It's been three days since no one has heard about the young tsakarem, her disappearance was only noted when Vito, the girl's Ilu, arrived at the clan with it's owner nowhere to be seen.
At first, Tsireya had made an excuse to cover up her sister's disappearance, thinking that the very next day, she'd come back. But almost days passed, and things were starting to get frantic and chaotic.
It was Ronal's mistake as well, for being not too strict about all the things Navieh is privileged enough to do as the clan's tsakarem. The anxious tsahik covers her face with her hand as she paced out of her marui and straight outside just to take a deep deep breath.
She held her stomach as if manifesting something, whispering. She breathed the fresh air and looked above to see the blue sky, holding back tears. She has never lost a child, and the thought of it scared her. "Ma Eywa, wherever she is, please protect my child."
Not even a few seconds after, there was a sudden sound that entered her ears. The clan's horn blew off with a loud pang, signalling that there was something a matter for the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik to see.
Ronal was immediate to react and gave her mate a sharp look. Tonowari understood what she meant and nodded, diving down the water where his skimwing awaited for him with no hesitation. His son looked at him and looked back at his mother.
Ronal looked back behind her to see her children and warned the eldest. "Aonung, Tsireya, you two should stay here until further notice." And then , she quickly walked off without any more words. But despite the warning, Aonung still followed behind without much fear from his mom, and Tsireya followed her brother.
Aonung and Tsireya ended up fast pacing through the crowd, with the eldest protecting his sibling from bumping with the village folks. And even if he knew something not good was bound to happen, he still thought of one thing.
"Mother! What if it's Navieh?" Aonung asked, standing aside his mother finally after diving through the crowd of people, and as if he didn't have a clue that his mother was thinking the same. As they kept walking, Tsireya couldn't help but leave herself out of their conversation and kept walking alongside her mother and brother.
"I've told you to─ Ah, We do not know yet. But we'll see." Ronal said with a serious face, but the moment they reached the shore where their feet touched the warm sand and the whispering of the Awa'atlu clan people reached their ears, Ronal's face grew deeply immersed of what she had seen. Or rather, who she saw.
"Tsahik! The intruders, there are five of them, what should we do?" One of the warriors asked her, but she wasn't speaking terms. Ronal's mind was still thinking of so many things. Her eldest daughter took over a quarter of her mind.
Even with some of the people blocking their view of this unknown group of people, Ronal, and her kids could see clearly who landed on the shore. And they didn't resemble any of the people in Awa'atlu with their azure complexion and noticeably different features. It was easy to identify that they were foreigners, really. No reef na'vi has ever flown in a creature with large wings.
Aonung and Tsireya thought the same as their mother the moment their eyes darted to the foreigners. The two looked at each other, and then to their mother. "Mom, aren't those creatures from land?" Tsireya asked, pointing at the aerial animals and feeling rather curious yet aware that she should be more cautious.
Ronal, instead of answering her child's question, only ever looked at the company, investigating their every move from how they unboarded their ikrans to how they looked at the reef people. They didn't necessarily give a hostile impression, but the tsahik was not a very kind person.
Tsireya looked back at the way her mother narrowed her eyes at the trespassers, and even her brother had the same unwelcoming gaze. "They shouldn't be here, not when 'Vieh is missing. Mother is in a very bad mood." The young girl only sighed, nibbling on her lips as she swam to the crowd to look closer. She looked at each one of them, but when her eyes darted upwards, her eyes widen at what she's seen.
"They are not welcome here─" Ronal looks at one of the village warriors, speaking in a rather frustrated manner. She gave every possible physical sign that meant she didn't want any visitors. But before she could squeeze herself through the crowd and probe more closely, some people made noise.
"There's another one! There's two of them!" Just as Ronal was about to accept that she and her chief mate were going to be handling only five intruders, then came another ikran with two riders. But then again, this time, her daughter yelled something that fell unexpectedly to the ears of the people.
"Its sister! She's─ The Tsakarem is with them!" Tsireya bellowed, motioning her head to look behind at her mother and brother who had just snapped out of their callous state. Ronal walked faster than his son, and the Tsahik couldn't believe her eyes.
As the last ikran landed on shore, the people grew more noisy and the warriors began hissing as they ran closer to where the foreigners were, yelling their Tsakarem's name─ Navieh, boarded in one of the Ikrans.
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