aoi.

You bit your lip in worry as your eyes casted around the city's situation, feeling yourself warm up uncomfortably. If this outbreak was city wide, that means your family was no where near safe. Just the idea of your parents hurt or harmed made your grip on the steering wheel tighten. Had they perhaps turned into those.. things..?

"You two are headed to the station right?" You turned your head around to look at them, watching as they nodded as an answer. "The stations not much farther, I'll drop you both there."

Both looked confused as to what you were implying, "You're not coming with us?" Leon questioned, making you indistinctivly losen your grip on the wheel.

"I'm heading home, I need to know if they're safe." It was recklessly dangerous and stupid, but they're your family.

Knowing who 'they' is, Leon shakes his head. "It's too dangerous, come with us instead." He protests, shoving another plan right in your head instead. You shook your head immediately as soon as his words came out of the dirty blonds mouth, exhaling heavily.

The two newly acquaintances of yours only watched you from the back, noticing how you've tensed up and how you're mannerisms looked like you were beginning to get frustrated.

The car comes to a stop when you've reached a barricaded road, with cars lined up unorderly on the other side. You cursed under your breath, finding this whole thing severely frustrating. Your house was far from where you are, if you're walking there you might as well just kill yourself right now.

"Fucking hell. Looks like we're walking.." the two heard your exhausted sigh, watching as you rubbed your face with the palm of your hand.

"More like running." You turned to where the two were looking at, noticing two undead feasting on another human. You pursed your lips, brows furrowing in annoyance. You hear shuffling behind you, and you see the two pulling out their guns.

"Good call." Leon curtly nods before a yell comes out of his mouth as an undead bangs on his door, followed by Claire who gets the same fate. You watched as your car gets surrounded by undead, ignoring the rotting cannibal banging its head on your window while you tried to steady your breathing.

Claire yells out your name, "You gotta back up!" She orders you, nervously scooting away from the door next to her as she was now in between the passenger and drivers seat. You did as what you were told, revving the engine and trying to back up. The whole this was hopeless as those things were in all areas outside your car, soon if you don't thing fast they'll be inside.

"What the—!?" Claire yells, looking behind her when she noticed the lights flashing. You turned to look behind as well, noticing the large truck you passed by from earlier. And it was now heading towards you.

"Fuck! Get out!" You hissed out, unlocking the doors and shouldering your door to get it open. The undead were jamming their weights and strength on all your doors, leaving you and the other two stuck inside. The truck was getting closer and closer, and in the midst of your panicking Leon yells out a loud 'hold on.'

You did as what he told, bracing yourself the impact heading. The truck suddenly swerved in another direction, but it still crashed into the side of your car. You yelled a groan at the impact, your car getting flung forward at the impact. You crashed in another car, providing another impact that send you back to your cushioned seat, knocking the air out of your lungs.

Kicking your door open, you threw yourself out of the car, clothed knees scraping on the rough road. You stabilized yourself up, coughing roughly as you held your stomach. You notice Leon not so far from you, and upon seeing you he looks at the gas truck in front of you.

"Shit, get down!" He yells, running towards you and shielding you from the explosion the gas tank causes as soon as Leon reaches you. A pained yell escapes you when your back collides on the car behind you, grunting when you fall right on top of Leon who rescued you from getting barbecued.

Leon loses his hold on you, his arm falling to the side as you tried to regain your focus after your life flashed right before your eyes and blacking out for half a second.

"You alright there?" He pats your lower back, as if trying to snap you awake.

"Fuck no, I felt like that explosion took five years from my life." You groaned, putting your hands on his covered chest and pushing yourself up. You looked around slightly before holding your hand out for him, watching as he accepted your gesture.

"Claire?!" You called out, uncaring that the undead are slowly starting to get back on their feet, groggily walking towards you and Leon.

"Yeah?!" You heard her respond, followed by three shots ringing in the air. "You alright?!"

"I'm alright, how about you?!" She yelled out, almost sounding out if breath. You were about to call put to her again until the man behind you take a hold of your wrist, aiming his gun at the undead surrounding you.

"We can't stay here, it's not safe!" He yells at you, but also at Claire as if trying to inform her something.

"Go on ahead! I'll meet you at the station!" She responds, and Leon looks back at you, curtly nodding his head. You bit your lip, "But what—" he grips on your wrist tighter, looking into your eyes.

"She'll be fine on her own, she can handle herself." He mutters. You looked hesitant, but looking around you there was no need to be wasting anymore time. You nodded, easing up to him as Leon lead you to where his destination is.

You tugged on his arm when he goes another way, catching his attention, you dragged eachother to an alleyway, an easy way to the station that wasn't on the road. Stopping in your tracks when you come across an undead, it was still rising up from the ground, and Leon brutally kicked it back on the floor, giving you time to run from it.

Going up a set of stairs, the sight of the station makes him exhale a breath he didn't know he was holding. "There it is, the station." He mutters. You looked around you, noticing the amount of undead all over the gate.

"There's so much of it." A frown overtakes you, your voice low that even you barely hear yourself.

"Let's make a run for it, okay? I'll cover." Leon perked up, catching your attention while grasping your hand. You nod nonetheless despite wanting to break down right then and there, pushing back the bile rising up your throat.

Leading the way, he runs to a clear pathway, shooting behind you when an undead gets way too close for comfort. You flinch when blood gets on your exposed skin, not finding the strength to look back at the dead bodies left behind.

Leon notices your quietness, feeling guilty but in your mind right now your batting the heads of zombies while your brother is pitching. Everytime you hit the head, you'd be cussing out as if singing a song.

You both finally reached the large gates, with Leon letting you go in first as he trailed behind. He shuts the door, locking it. He turns to you, looking at you worriedly. "You alright? You're awfully pale."

The question caught you off guard, your little gorey fantasy world shutting off as soon as his voice reached your ears. You nodded, "Yep, just reeling in everything." You mustered up a small smile that wrote 'wtf' all over it.

Leon decided not to poke more into your situation nonetheless, he bobs his head to the stations wooden door, as if waiting for your signal. You turned on your heel, removing your eyes from the sight of zombies in front of you and took steady steps towards the door. Leon trails right behind you.

Cold hands rested on the large wooden doors, pushing it open. The station looked exactly like the museum you loved to visit once a year when you were still a little girl. Same interior structure, but now a difference purpose.

The lights were awfully dim, and while you were looking around Leon had already found some important stuff.. like ammos.

You snapped your attention back, now walking towards the wooden counter. You stepped to the monitor that was flashing a bright red on the screen. Leon is now beside you, looking down at the screen as you pressed on a key. The CCTV control service pops up on the screen and you bent slightly down to focus on the screen better.

"There has to be someone here." Leon mutters. On cam4, revealed a man being trailed by another undead, he was a police officer, of course judging by his uniform.

"God, that's not good." You hissed worridly, your face scrunching when he misses his shots at the zombie.

"David! Marvin! You there?" His voice was rushed and uneven from how his breathing was unsteady. He looked into the camera, showing something you couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. "I found a way out, It's in here!"

You stood back up as he was cornered by the undead, not wanting to look at the scene unfold anymore. "Send reinforcement, east hallway!"

"We have to help him." You perked up, catching Leon's attention after looking at the cameras. He nods curtly, "I'll find him, but you stay here and check anything that seems valuable." You furrowed your brows at his words, unhappy.

"Like hell I will—"

"Listen—"

"No, you listen, Kennedy. I am coming with you and I don't give a single shit if you say it's dangerous." You glared at him, watching as he only rose a brow. "Jesus Christ, alright." He huffs, lifting his hand up in surrender as if there was a fight in the first place.

You smiled, pleased by the outcome.

"Let's go."

"Heugh—!  hah.."

You watched from behind as the blond in front of you push back a toppled over cabinet, the action making the metal storage clank down in the floor.

Your whistle catches his attention, making him turn to look at you.

"What?"

He felt himself burn up at your little smug smile, and you just brushed off his confused question. You both resumed walking, the heel of your shoe softly padding against the tiled floor as you trailed behind Leon, holding the flashlight he found in the gas stations convenience store.

Both of you come across a bloodied corner after turning from where you came from, and your senses heightened at the sight. Your ears rang as you heard a man yell from another direction, and you immediately sprang into action without a single thought.

"Open this God damn door!" You heard the man from the camera yell, banging on the steel door I'm the process. Panicked, bent down and held on the steel doors handle, using your strength to pry the door open. The door seemed as if it was jammed as it didn't want to open up more farther, so when the man's hand came into view you had no choice but to pull him in.

"I've got you! Just crawl—" You bit your lip, hard, desperately trying to get the man on your side. You could see Leon try to get the door to open again, only for him to pause when the man whose hand you're holding let's out a gurgled scream as blood seeped through his uniform.

You could feel your heart thumping on your chest, the sight making your skin crawl. "Fuck— shit, hold on!" You sniffled, pulling him in again as he only cried out. The scream was agonizing, and it didn't help how you could hear his flesh being feasted on from the other side.

Falling back on the ground roughly, the man was now pulled on your side of the door, only to be revealed that his lower body is missing. His organs were out in the open, his blood rushing out and pooling around his body, soaking the back of his uniform.

Your breath hitched at his state, your hand coming up to hold your incoming scream.

"..Jesus Christ." Leon mutters, looking down at the body as the man loses his consciousness. Leon then changes his gaze to the steel door, the sound of your sniffles being silenced by the zombie on the other side of the door. He sighs before picking up the notebook of the officer, opening it.

Leon turns to you after inspecting the notebook, his lips pursing as a loud exhale escapes his nose at your state. He crouched down at your slumped form, squatting in front of you as you're back was rested on the bloody wall.

You trying to muffle your sniffles was absolutely destroying, just listening to you right now made Leon's heart burn. But you've gotta continue moving.

"Come on, we've got to keep going." He pats your shoulder gently, listening as your sniffles slowly start calming down. Your head was hidden in your arms, disliking the idea of the man in front of you seeing your tears, yet hear you are breaking down after a man gets torn in half.

Another zombie from the door you went from started banging on the wooden door, catching your attention. Your head snapped to look at the sound, and as soon as the zombie breaks into the room you stood back up to your feet.

Leon stands up, shielding you from the undead that just broke in. The undead staggers unsteadily before lunging itself at Leon. The dirty blond man grunts, holding back the zombie with his hand around it, choking it. He pushes himself and the zombie back to the wooden door, only to throw himself to the side when the zombie tried to bite his hand.

The zombie staggered back from Leon's throw, growling and gurgling blood admist the silence. It's white glare on Leon shifted back to you, and you could hear it's flesh mushing together when it twists its body to your direction.

Before the rotting cannibal could throw itself at you, your hand instinctively grabbed the nearest thing you could use to defend yourself on the desk beside you. Which was a desk lamp. It's light shuts off as soon as it gets plugged off from your sudden force.

When the zombie runs towards you, at a safe space, you brutally swung the lamp at its head. A chunk of rotting flesh of the zombies head gets chucked off from the pressure of your hit.

The zombie hits the side of the desk, and before it could even fix its balance Leon had already shot at its head, blowing it up. Blood gushed on the desk, and without wasting anymore time Leon grabs your hand, snapping you out of your somewhat shocked-state.

You both stepped out of the room, and you could see another zombie banging on the window of the hallway. It breaks in, and Leon cussed out loudly at it, but instead of defending both of you he holds on your hand tighter. "Let's just run for it!"

Letting him drag you through the hallways, your footsteps were loud and echoing through the halls. Your head is dizzy and you don't bother to watch where you're headed, as if you've completely trusted your life on the hands of the man in front of you.

He comes to a stop, putting a hand on your shoulder and you've realized the familiar place. You crouch down and laid your body straight on the bloody floor as Leon tried to make the gap on the gate slightly wider, but not wide enough for a zombie to crawl in easily.

"Hurry." You could hear him mutter. You've now crossed the main hall, and you see Leon getting down, crawling on the space of the door. A zombie suddenly let's itself known, reaching for Leon's leg before you could even realize.

"Damn it!" He curses, looking back at the zombie behind him. He could feel your hand on his arm, pulling him from the zombie despite his heaviness.

Then suddenly you notice a pair of black shoes and the same colored uniform pants those zombified officers were wearing. "Careful—" You started, reaching out your hand to the man as soon as you made sure Leon was safe from the bloody hands grabbing at him.

"I got it." He gruffly speaks up, pressing his foot down on the steel door, crushing it's body from the pressure. You looked down at the crushed zombie before looking up at the man, exhaling lightly.

His hand was pressed up on the bloody wound on his stomach, his breath heavy with his chest heaving up and down. His back pressed up on the steel door, slightly sliding down, "You're safe, for now." He grunts, face scrunching up painfully.

"Thank you." You perked up, your face showing nothing but genuine gratefulness.

"Marvin Branagh." He introduced himself, which followed by Leon doing the same. You stated your first name to the new acquaintance, his uniform reminding you of a particular death.

"..–there was another officer, and i couldn't save him– he–" You felt a hand on your shoulder, the same hand who held yours earlier. You trailed off your sentence, the officers death flashing and replaying in your head.

"I'm sure you did what you could, little one." Marvin takes a step towards you, bobbing his head in acknowledgement, his words providing some kind of comfort and reassurance.

"He died... for what?" Your voice was small, weak and fragile. With the bile rising up your throat, you found yourself having trouble trying to breathe again. God, you hated feeling like this, just breaking down in front of people. You disliked feeling weak. You disliked being seen vulnerable.

But you couldn't help it anymore. That one particular death would haunt you, especially because it was your fault. You could've saved him if you pulled him through faster. If you got there in time. If you weren't so weak.

Leon pulls out a specific notebook after those words escaped your mouth, flipping through the pages to find the little map that officer drew. He shuffles beside you, catching your attention.

Practically feeling her cheeriness visibly deflate at that. Jane knew you had a point, and she understood why you'd be gone for a while, but surely being on the verge of tears watching your best friend pack to go back to her home place is also reasonably understandable, right?

Breathing out through your nose, you sat next to her now slumped, seated form. You placed a piece of clothing on your lap, wrinkling it in the process. Jane found the feeling of your cold hands on her exposed shoulder, a gesture you do when you're comforting.

"Come on, don't get all mushy on me. I'm not gone for that long, and I'll be back before you know it." While you particularly didn't really understand why she's so upset that you're leaving for a week, you didn't want to see her cry.

Was it her abandonment issues? Hm, maybe.

Jane pouts childishly again, now heating up put of embarrassment. "Now my mascaras all ruined." She huffed, her fingertips slightly stained in black inkish liquid from her tears when she brought her hand up to wipe her cheek.

"You barely even cried." You commented.

"I tend to like wearing these types of mascaras to add dramatic effect." Jane shrugged mischievously, a grin overtaking her soft features.

"Oh so everyday you just suddenly start shedding tears out of nowhere?" She snickered at your comment, shaking her head in amusement. You matched her grin, standing back up to start packing again.

"Hey, do you think I can come visit your family with you?" She suddenly brought up, taking you off guard. You paused for a moment, letting the words sink in and processing what to say.

"..maybe next year."

The drive is mostly silent. Mostly. All you could hear was the static from the radio, the muffling noise outside that your tires were creating, and the raindrops softly padding against the glass windows of your car. It was pitch black darkness outside, and all you could see was the road ahead of you as your headlights was on. Occasionally turning on the windshield wipers here and there.

Your elbow was propped up on the door beside you, resting there as your hand stabilized your head. In a minute now you could possibly get a headache from how your knuckles was digging into the side of your head. It was uncomfortable, but it surprisingly kept you awake.

Your brother called before you left your apartment, and by that I mean before you stepped out of the door. He called to say he'd arrive tomorrow, and he wanted you to tell your parents instead so he won't have to. You were upset at that, but there was nothing you could do about that.

After a few minutes, you caught up to a gas truck. It was slowed down, and you could only assume that the driver is half asleep and half awake right now. Not wanting to waste time trailing behind it, you steered the wheel on overtook the truck. You looked back at the rear view mirror, watching as the trucks light began to slowly disappear.

You huffed out of your nose, pursing your lips together as you heard your stomach growl. And it growled again.

Glancing at the baked delicacy on the passenger seat next to you, you opened the box with one hand, fishing out a glazed donut that Jane baked for you before you left. You could smell the taste of cinnamon rolls, but she said that's her gift to your mom and dad. But more to your mom.

After a mile and a suffocating silence, you encountered lights up ahead, and as you squinted slightly you could see that it was a gas station. A gas station occupied with two cars, a motorcycle, and seemingly drunken people surrounding two individuals.

Two individuals holding guns.

Something bubbled in your stomach, and you didn't like it one bit. You shouldn't have ate that donut. You swerved into the gas station, the sound if tires screeching and lights flashing at the unknown man and woman catching both their attentions. You bumped into three or four of the weirdly rotting bodies, your eyes widening at the sight of small droplets of blood getting on your windshield.

There was yelling from your side, and you could see two of the unknown people shooting at whatever the fuck you just crashed on until they finally decided to get in your car. There was loud thudding on the passengers seat, and you turned to look at it.

The look of face rotting, was on the other side of that glass window. It's skin around its mouth ripping off that you could see the gums of its bloody mouth and teeth. It's neck was torn apart, and it's workers uniform was now trashed and dirty. As soon as you could hear the door loudly close shut, you sped out of that gas station immediately.

Both their heavy breathing filled the car, making you look back to where they're seated, concerned. "You guys alright? What the hell was that- that thing." The question came out worridly and mortified at the same time.

"I don't know. Hopefully they'll have some answers at the police station." The man responds to you, catching the girl's attention.

"Wait, you're a cop?"

He curtly nods, "Yeah. Leon Kennedy, you are?"

"Claire- Claire Redfield."

Upon her response, was silence. You glanced back, seeing how they were now looking at you, waiting for your response. "Oh- you were also talking to me?" You deadpanned at yourself, watching as an amused smile take on their face.

You introduced yourself, firstname and lastname.

Claire hummed at your response, "That lastname, hm, I could vividly remember my brother mentioning that name." She muttered, but was it didn't go unheard by the other two in the car.

"Your brother?" You beat the dirty blond male to it, making him purse his lips but still look at the girl beside him for an answer. "Yep. I'm looking for him. he's a cop, too." She answers you, making you nod.

The man who you now know as Leon looked at you, "Do you live around here?" He questioned, and you nodded again.

"Mhm. I'm visiting to see my family."

"Well, it's a good thing we found eachother." Leon perked up again, "I don't know what to expect anymore." You were confused at his words, but you couldn't bring yourself to question it. Besides, you were too tired to be paying attention to anything other than the road right now.

You passed by a billboard; welcome to raccoon city, home of umbrella.

Your first home was those types of homes that was always busy. Your home was small, but it was enough to fit four happy family members, so every room you're in, silence was never allowed. You're mother was always hanging around the kitchen, listening to the radio and cooking whatever food you like. Meanwhile your brother was in his own room or in the living room with your father, watching live games or raging over a thrilling series.

You? Stuck up in your room, constantly brushing your cats fur or reading a magazine. If you're being forces out of your room by you're mom, you're either playing games with your brother on the backyard or picking on him for his bad pitching.

Your brother and you like to play baseball together, since your father used to play it. It was never serious or professional, it was all just for the fun of it since your mother desperately wanted you and your brother to bond over something. So, your dad came up with a solution for your mom's problem; baseball.

One time, you almost broke a window when you were batting. It was a miracle the ball only bounced off the wall inches off the window. The ball was never seen after that. Neither of you told your parents about it either, you just explained a lie as to why the ball was lost.

A smile forms on your face when you recalled the memory, shaking your head to your own amusement before looking back at the piled up papers you needed to work on as it laid atop the textbooks. You were about to frown at the sight of it until a loud ring tone rang around the quiet interior of your apartment.

Standing up, you walked to the counter where you left your phone, answering it without bothering to look at the contact.

"Hello?" You merely said, your words short and curt. There was an amused breathy chuckle on the other line, the sound giving you a wave of familiarity.

"Geez, shorty, I know it's been a few months but does your greeting have to be that cold? I'm hurt." The voice of someone none other than your brother emerges from the other line. You could practically hear the faux hurt in his tone, imagining him placing his hand on his chest with a smug frown on his face.

"Few months? Elias, it's nearly been a year." You huffed, rolling your eyes as your brother let's out a sound as if he was unsure of your words.

"It's only been nine months! That's nothing from a year." He softly yells defensively, and you resist the urge to roll your eyes again. Despite that, you smiled, happy to hear from him again.

You sit right back down in your couch, your assignments long forgotten once again. "So why did you call? Want another favor or something?" He scoffs at your words, clearly offended.

"Hey, let it go. That was one time."

"Answer the question, El."

"Okay, okay! Geez you're mean," you lightly chuckle at his mutter, waiting for him to continue. "Ma and dad called me yesterday, since it's near my break they asked if I wanted to visit them back home." He said. You stopped staring at your nails at his respond, brow lifting curiously.

"I said I'd think about it first because I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come visit them with me." You cooed at that, earning an embarrassed scoff from Elias.

"Ellie! How sweet of you, of course I'll go!" You grinned enthusiastically, ignoring how your brother cursed at you for that annoying nickname.

"Hey, why are you just telling me this when you said they called you yesterday?" Your smile fades into a petty frown.

"They called me in the afternoon, I was in the middle of taking a nap until the ringtone rudely interrupted me. After the call ended, I just passed out so I didn't get the chance to tell you immediately." He explains.

"Sounds like you alright." You both shared a soft laugh.

"When do you plan on visiting them? I'm okay with whenever." You then questioned again, and you could hear a curt sound of clothing shuffling, and you know that was him shrugging his shoulders. You sigh,

"Well how about this Tuesday? 29?" You suggested, and he gives you a careless yet satisfied hum.

"Great, I knew you could plan this for me." He smugly spoke from the other time, and you only irked, unimpressed. "Haha, you're hilarious." You rolled your eyes with a huff, and Elias snickers.

Elias clears his throat, "Well, I gotta go now."

You frowned at his words, but you understood why. Now that he has a new job, his lifestyle has now changed and he's now busier than before, which is why he barely has time to contact you and your parents. His rarely gets breaks off work, but it's better than not having any at all. At least that's what he said.

You spot Lo'ak underwater, holding his knife with one hand as he stands up for himself against the Akula swiftly swimming towards him. Before the Akula can get to him, you swam your Ilu towards him, snatching him from his place as the air was knocked out of his lungs in process.

He glances at the person who just saved him from his misery, and immediately see's his sister. He glanced behind you, seeing the Akula gaining on your tails faster. You ducked down into the water, and at the corner of his eyes he saw a ginormous sea creature harshly crush the Akula against a rock.

You feel the boy harshly twitching in your hold, making it known to you that he is losing air by seconds. You pulled your Ilu up, gesturing it to go back to the surface. You glanced at your brother, seeing him struggling to keep his breath as you both neared the surface of the water.

He faints in your hold just as soon as you both reached the air, leaving his body to limp by your side. You pulled him off you, two fingers coming up to his neck as toy checked his pulse. You panicked for a while, trying to lay down his body on your Ilu more properly so you can preform car on him.

Your eyes widened as the same large sea creature emerged from the water beside you, eyeing you with observing eyes. You see it emerged its fin from below you, making your Ilu yelp as it fried to escape from the Tulkun's fin, going back into the water. You held your brother in your arms as you were now sitting down on the Tulkun's fins, hesitantly placing him down on the fin.

The Tulkun makes a bellowing noise, and you flinched, nodding your head as if you understood what it said. You laid your brother beside you, hands placing on his chest as you started the compressions, remembering what your father said to you just in case something happened.

After thirty chest compressions, you pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing into his mouth two times before going back to chest compressions. After a few while, Lo'ak finally comes back, choking the water out of his mouth as he harshly let's out a gasp. He shifts in his position, looking around his surroundings with wide eyes.

"Oh, thank Eywa." You sighed, looking at him in concern. "Brother, are you alright?" You placed a hand on his back, watching as he looked at you with wide eyes.

"Am I in heaven..?"

You pursed your lips with a tired sigh, shaking your head. "No, you skxawng. What were you thinking?" You scolded him, contemplating whether or not you should slap him. He only groans, rolling his eyes, "Sis, I almost died and the first thing you do is act like dad?"

"Yes! Idiot, why in the ever living hell would you go outside the reefs with that boy?" You continued to scold him out of worry. You stopped when you see him look down, as if tired by your antics.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just worried for you." You apologized with a sigh, rubbing his arm reassuringly. He nods, looking at you. "How did you know where we went?" He then asks you, curios as well.

"I followed you."

"Yikes." He winced, embarrassed of the fact you probably heard the reason why he went out the reefs with Ao'nung. You were both distracted by a sound of another bellowing, and Lo'ak shifts closer to you, as if frightened by the sound.

"Holy shit." His eyes followed the sight of the Tulkun's body, eyes wide as he continued to stick close to you. "You're a tulkun." He says, looking at the creature in awe. He turns to you, slightly grinning as if saying 'are you seeing this?'

You chuckled at him, looking at the Tulkun in amusement as well. "You saved our life. Thank you." The boy says, nearing the Tulkun to look at it in the eyes. He signs the words either his hands, repeating his gratefulness to express it to the Tulkun.

The Tulkun let's out a few animalistic sounds, making you and your brother share a laugh. "Buddy, I have no idea what you just said" He states, smiling at the Tulkun. Then the Tulkun looks at the stub on his fin, making you notice of it as well.

"Oh, poor thing." You cooed sympathetically, touching the Tulkun's fins as if comforting him. "They hurt you, didn't they?" You questioned the Tulkun, watching as he made more noises as if communicating. You and Lo'ak looked at eachother, as if thinking the same thing.

"We'll try to pull it out." Lo'ak says, raising one foot up in a more comfortable position. Lo'ak tried to pull out the rusty stub, but was unfortunately getting jambed. You dropped yourself into the water, swimming down into the Tulkun's fin as you neared the end of the stub. You grabbed the attachment of it, twisting it around until it was off.

You swam back into the surface, watching as Lo'ak pulled off the thing, throwing it down at the pits of the ocean. Lo'ak emerged from the water, smiling at the Tulkun. "Friends?" He says, signing his words at the creature.

The animal let's out low raspy whistles, and Lo'ak grinned. "That's right, we're friends!" He laughs. You grinned at their interaction, but that grin immediately fell when you were pushed down into the water by the Tulkun's fins. You looked at Lo'ak, confused, you both turned to the Tulkun as it swam in a circle, letting out the same whistling the Ilu's make.

You clapped at the Tulkun's actions, smiling delightly as you were amused.

You were laying on the Tulkun's back after a tiring day spent with him and Lo'ak, looking up at the stars as you listened to him and the creature talk.

"You know, my dad came from the star. That one, right there." He points at one of the stars. You looked at where ge was pointing as well, smiling at the mention of your dear father. You turned on your belly, caressing the Tulkun's back with a delighted grin as you heard it let out small whistles.

"Lo'ak!" Your ear twitched at the yell, looking at the direction to where it came from. You turned to see a few clan members and their Tsurak or Ilu's, their torches exposing their locations. You snapped to look at Lo'ak, patting him in the shoulder.

"Lo'ak, we've got to go."

He looks at you confused, "Why?" He questioned, upset. You bobbed your head at the directions of the clan searching for you two. And in timing your name was loudly called out.

"Go, I will see you again." Lo'ak signed at the Tulkun, rushing his movements as you walked off the Tulkun's back. You hopped on the rocks, waving at the crowed swatching for you as you acted less suspicious as you could. "Over here!"

The clan turned at the sound of your call. Two skimwings neared you and Lo'ak, and it revealed to be your father and another Metkayina man. You looked down from your father's gaze, ears drooping down. "(name), are you alright?"

You nod at his question, glancing to sew Lo'ak take a ride behind the Metkayina man's skimwing. You hear your father sighs, his arm coming across your shoulders as he walks you to his skimwing.

...

You watched as Lo'ak approached Ao'nung, slightly glaring at him. Your father intervened between him before your brother could do anything while you tried your best to get off the skimwing without passing the creature off. You hopped on the canoe they were standing on, equally as pissed as Lo'ak.

"He's fine, just a few scratches." Your father informs after checking your brother. Your mother then emerged from the crowed, walking up to you. "Oh, my child." She looked at you, looking all over your body as if looking for an injury.

You shyed away from her hold, "I'm fine, ma." You gritted out, gently pulling her hand away from you. She does a full shift in persona, now looking at you furiously, "What were you thinking? You were supposed to look after your brother." She growls.

You sighed, rolling your eyes.

"No. My son knows better then to take them outside the reef," Tonowari speaks up, placing a hand on his son, forcing him to kneel down. "The blame is his." You looked down at Ao'nung's form, feeling slightly guilty, but then again you were petty and he did almost get your brother murdered.

"No, this is not Ao'nung's fault. This was my idea." Your eats twitched at Lo'ak's words, looking at him with slightly wide eyes. "Ao'nung tried to talk me out of it."

You pursed your lips as the parents of both sons looked at you, feeling small under their gazes. You sighed and took your brother's arms, dragging him away from the scene. You walked away with Lo'ak, not sparing the useless lectures from your father as he was only probably gonna bring Lo'ak down again, just like recent times already.

At the corner of your eye, you see Ao'nung approaching you two. "Why did you speak for me?" He walks beside you, glancing at your brother. "Because I know what it's like to be one big disappointment." Your brother says.

You glanced at the boy beside you, watching as his eyes scanned your body as if looking for something. You huffed, pushing your brother, as he was now standing between you and Ao'nung.

"Don't speak to me. I despise you." Your harsh words made Ao'nung wince, his steps slightly faltering as he tried to have a conversation with you. He stands in front of you, holding is hand between the space both of you had, stopping you in your tracks.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know I messed up." You only scoffed at his words. "Your apologies mean nothing to me. You almost got my brother killed, I mean, who does that?" You looked at him increasingly, still upset.

"I was feeling petty yesterday, and it was childish for me to do that. Fucked up too, but i swear im trying to change."

"How you change your actions has nothing to do with me. Basic decency is practiced ever since childhood, but despite being fifteen, you still act like a child." You hissed, trying to get past him. He blocked your way again, and when you went past another direction, he blocked you again.

"I know you think I'm a selfish asshole—"

"Congrats on being self-aware."

"But I am actually sorry. Genuinely sorry. What happened yesterday snapped something inside me, and it made me want to change how I act. I don't wanna be a disappointment anymore." You looked at him up and down, raising a brow as you crossed your arms.

"You should be apologizing to my brother instead." You stated, voice slightly low. Ao'nung nods, "I already did." You hummed at his words, your eyes slightly squinting.

"Well if you wanna change your shitty personality, you better go on your merry way and start working on it." You waved him off, patting him on the shoulder before you left. Ao'nung slumps as he watched you walk away, hearing the bushes near the trees rustle.

"How'd it go, bro?" Rotxo emerged from the bushes, looking at the boy excitedly. Yes, he's also the reason why Ao'nung approached you and started apologizing. Sometimes, Rotxo gaslights.

"Horrible. She called me a child, selfish asshole, and called my personality shitty." Rotxo tries to hide his snickers as his friend repeats your words, earning a slap from the back of the head by Ao'nung.

"Well I mean, she never lies, soo..?"

Ao'nung glared at his friend, unamused because of how Rotxo was acting right now. "Look, if you want (name) to notice you, don't be a try hard. She has enough of those kinds of boys begging for her attention right now."

"I don't want her to notice me, Rotxo, I want her to forgive me." Ao'nung pinched the boy slightly, sighing when he realized Rotxo had no clue what his goals for you are.

The shorter boy slowly nods his head in realization. A few beats of silence passed, and Rotxo had already came out of the bush. The boy gives the chief's son a boyish pat on the shoulders, "Well, I can't relate to you right now bro, so I've got no advice for you."

Ao'nung groaned, glaring at the boy as he cheekily walked away.

Like other Omaticayas learning from her back then, you loved the woman and even called her your closes friend. You've never blamed her for what happened, and you even forgiven her unspoken apology.

You awed at the sight of the smooth, white papers, finding interest in it. "Oh, a book! Kìreysì taught me about this, but I kind of forgot." You chuckled nervously, sitting beside Norman. He notices your gaze on the book, and decides to give it to you.

Norm noticed how you sometimes stare at things you find interest in, and it gives you the curiosity and urge to learn more about it. You smiled at his actions, grateful you didn't have to ask to let him know.

Your eyes scanned the english dialog written on the pages. Some were far too deep for you to understand, but some you found familiar with. You flipped over the page, being extra careful with the object as you were scared you'd accidentally rip it.

You let out a sound similar of a coo when you saw the pictures of technologies plastered on the book. You pointed at one of it, and looked at Norman. "I know these, I saw you bring one here!" You smiled.

Norman fondly smiled at your speech, happy you're making bigger progress. "Yep, but if you see someone else bring it, it means danger. Okay?" Your ears twitched at the sound of the word, and suddenly you felt numb.

"Danger?" You frowned, "Why dangerous?" Your head tilted, confused. Norman licks his lips slightly, slowly forming his words in a nicer way to explain to you.

"Well, (nickname). These technologies aren't really safe, and they can harm you. It can even kill you," he notices your ears dropping down at his forwardness, but he continues. "These people carrying these are bad. They're not here to make friends, and they're only gonna harm you. You know about sky-people, don't you?" You nodded at his question.

"I'm one of the sky-people, but my human body is connected to an Avatar body right now, that's why I dont look human."

You frowned, "You're not sky-people. You're far more different from those cruel demons." You stated, brows furrowed as you were upset by his words.

"But I am sky-people. I'm human." You incredulously shook your head as he continued to tell you he's a sky people. You obviously knew about the man being human, and his body being connected to a na'vi Avatar. But you'd never put him in the same category as those merciless demons.

You liked Norman because of who he was, and how he was so different from the species he was related to. You even had to admit that you even had a soft spot for him.

"So you think I'm na'vi?" You also shook your head again at that question. Norman looks at you, confused as to what you're getting at. You noticed his look, and decide to explain yourself. "I know you're not na'vi, and i know where you came from. What I'm saying is that I don't consider you as those demons, because you're different than them."

"I'd rather shoot myself in the leg with an arrow than describe you in the same category as those creatures. You're far more than them, Norm." You grasped his hands with your own, watching as a small fond smile crossed through his face.

"Please don't shoot yourself in the leg."

You hummed, booping his nose with your pointer finger. You sat beside him, your shoulders leaning against his as you leaned your weight on him. "Dou you wanna go ikran flying with me?" You perked up, watching as he closed the book her was holding and placed it back inside his bag.

"Alright. But don't you remember the last time we did that?"

"You almost fell, yes. But that was partly your fault, you weren't holding on to me." You frowned, vividly remembering how the second Norman wasn't holding onto you, he was almost pushed off your Ikran's back.

Norman shrugged at your words, "i guess you're right." He admits, outstretching a hand out for you to take, hoisting you up fom the log you were both sitting on. You cheered happily, holding his hands as you lead him to the direction Hallelujah mountains were.

Lo'ak leads you two by a rock, outstretching Neteyam's arms around his shoulders as he dragged the wounded boy gently down. You hurriedly untied a long cloth that you tied around your Ilu's handle, squishing the cloth in between your hands to dry it out.

Neteyam sits down on the rock, looking at his bleeding wound with a wince. You crouched down beside him, folding the cloth into an appropriate fold to wrap it around your brothers wound. You bob your head at him, masking your concern.

"Lift your arms slightly." You instructed. Lo'ak helps Neteyam lift his arm, a small gap enough for you to wrap how it seemed appropriate, glancing at the boy once in a while as he let's out pained grunts. You tightly tied the ends of the cloth after wrapping it around his wound, tucjing it away as you liked your lips, now noticing your father approaching you.

"What's wrong here?," he immediately asks, alerted by the scene in front of him. He sees Neteyam's bandaged shoulder, and alarms started going off in his head. He drops his gun down, crouching in front of his son as he inspected the wrap you've done.

He pressed on the bandage, and Neteyam groans at his action, instinctively pushing his father's hands away. "Hurts?" Your father asks. Neteyam nods his head at his question, and your father looks at you.

He ruffled your hair, "Good job, (name). Now, look after him, and make sure he doesn't get himself shot again. Hear me, child?" You obediently nodded, your ears twitching as you heard the sound of wings flapping near you.

"Mother." You called out, but she only goes past you and checks up on Neteyam.

"Who did this to you?" She growls, looking at Neteyam straight in the eyes. Neteyam stayed silent, his eyes avoiding his mother's scary gaze as he wasn't sure who had shot him as well. You looked at your father, grabbing his attention as you remembered the missing presence of certain girls.

"Father, Kiri has been taken away." You spoke up, earning both adults attentions. Your mother stands up, gripping her bow as she was outraged by the words you've just said. "Tuk— Tuktirey is missing too, but the last time i saw her was when we were escaping from the submarines." You added, concern coursing through your veins.

"Tuktirey got taken away again?" Lo'ak questioned. He and the two girls, Tsireya and Tuktirey had been saved earlier by his brother, and he could remember seeing Tsireya take the girl away before he took his brother with him to save Spider.

Your father inhales sharply, his hands coming up to your shoulder as he was obviously gonna order you something again. "Do you know where Kiri got taken away?"

"It was an Ikran that took her away, and the animal dropped her by the boat. That's all I know." You answered truthfully, ears drooping back. And in timing, your father's earpiece rings and a voice was heard from the other side.

"I heard you." Your father speaks. Your eyes flickered all over his face, confused, "Pa, what—"

"They have our daughters." Your mother growls lowly at his words, tail flicking to the side. Her grip on her bow was so tight to the point it could snap in between her hold, as a fire ignites inside her. A fierce fire to protect her children.

Your mother walks away without a word, eyes dim and blank as she reached behind her back, grabbing her braid as she made the bond with her Ikran. She takes flight into the air, nearing the boat.

"Stay with your brother." Your father orders you and Lo'ak, but you see him open his mouth to say something. You turn around to face him, glaring, "That's enough, Lo'ak. You're staying here." You slightly hissed your words out, watching as he pursed his lips into a thin line.

Spider speaks to your father, saying things that involved of Kiri and Tuktirey's location and you watched as the human leaves with your father. You turned back to your brother, wanting to check up on him. "Brother?" You called out.

He hums, looking at you weakly.

"Are you alright? Are you still hurting?"

He sighs, slightly grinning at your concern. "You worry too much, sis. Just relax for a moment.." he caresses your hand, feeling your finger twitch at his warmth.

"Relax..? Brother, you have been shot, and you're telling me to relax and stop worrying?" You incredulously questioned him, watching as he nodded his head cooly. "Exactly." You scoffed at his words.

"Such an idiot." You slightly grin, hearing a small bubble of laughter escapes his throat. Your smile dropped as you hear your friends from behind you call out Lo'ak's name, leaving you and Neteyam to look confused.

You see Lo'ak diving into the water, escaping with his Ilu. You stood up hurriedly, watching the bubbles rise up into the water from where he dived with a scowl. You fisted your hands tightly, your own nails clawing at your palms as you cursed every single cuss there was to exist in your head, growling in distaste.

"Does it kill him to obey my words?! It's not that hard to listen!" You hissed, shoving away the hand that teaches up to your shoulder. You glared at whoever that was, your ears drooping down when you realized it was Ao'nung. You blinked twice, now realizing that Tsireya has arrived at the scene as well.

"He will be fine, (name). That skxawng can take care of himself." Tsireya perks up, giving you a weak reassuring smile. She didn't know her words as true, as she was just as worried as you.

You took a step back slightly when an explosion ignites from the boat, your ears and tail limping at the sight of smoke reaching up into the dark skies. You bit your lip, shutting your eyes as you tried to think of positive thoughts while shoving away all the thoughts making you more and more nervous.

Ao'nung notices your panicking, and decided to step in. He goes in front of you, holding your shoulders as he observed your shut eyes, ragged breathing and fiddling fingers. "Hey, hey. It's gonna be okay." His words brought you back to reality, your eyes opening, revealing your glossy glistening eyes.

"Breathe, (nickname)," he instructed. You watched as he inhaled, waiting for you to do the same. When you followed his actions weakly, he let's out a deep exhale, and you did the same. You do the same for a few while, until you finally got to steady your breathing. He smiled at you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders as he averts your attention from the boat.

"I hope those demons meet Satan himself in their afterlife." You whispered, but it was heard from the rest of the group. They silently agreed to your words, encouraging your brutal thoughts if it was gonna help you calm down.

A few torturous minutes had passed, and a fire begun on the water, surrounding the ship. Lo'ak hadn't returned yet, and so did the rest of the family. The boat was beginning to sink, and it had toppled over. All you could do was watch it all happen, and you couldn't do anything to help.

Neteyam holds you beside him as you buried your face on the crook of his neck, feeling your cold, shuddering breath hitting his skin. He watched as the boat was now fully submerged into the water, tears stinging his eyes as he desperately looked around for the sight of his family.

Your ears twitched as it catches the sound of a small gasp, making you slightly open your eye's. You see the water surrounding the rock you were standing on glowing, and when you adjusted your eyes at the scene you realized it was the glowing fishes Kiri took a favor of.

You trailed over the direction it came from, seeing how it was from where the boat sank, and you immediately let out a sigh of relief. That can mean Kiri is most likely alive. You left Neteyam's side, crouching down on the rocks sharp surface as you watched the fishes with a relaxed smile.

"What's happening?" You hear Rotxo voice out his confusion.

"It's Kiri." You answered him, a sliver of hope still present in you. Tsireya let's out a delighted sigh at your words, her hand coming down to her chest, over her heart. "Thank you, Greatmother." She whispered, bowing her head slightly.

Dipping your hand into the water, you let the fishes dance around your skin, their fins slightly brushing against your palms.

"Papa!" You exclaimed, relief coursing through your body as you ran into your father, tightly embracing him in a warm hold. The side of your head rests on his chest as one of his arm wraps around your shoulder, giving you a small squeeze before you let go.

Your mother then holds you into her arms, slightly sniffling as she takes in your scent, her hand on the back of your head. "Sweet girl, im so happy." She whispered into your ears, softly smiling at you. Your parents walked towards Neteyam checking up on him, as well as giving him the same affection you just received.

Walking towards your siblings, you let Tuktirey smash onto your torso as she cried into your stomach. Your hand rubbed on her head, whispering comforting words at her as she continued to sniffle. You carried her in your arms with one hand, letting her cling onto you like a Koala as you slapped the back of Lo'ak's head.

He let's out a wince, rubbing where you hit him while giving you an apologetic look. "Moron. You had me crying when you guys didn't return." You slightly hissed, seeing how he took your words seriously.

"I'm sorry."

You clicked your tongue, rolling your eyes. But despite that, you grabbed him by the arm and held him next to you, squeezing his shoulders. Lo'ak slight chuckles at your actions, finding your acts of affection foreign to him. Kiri cooes at you before she attacked you three with her hugs, which resulted to Neteyam doubling Kiri's same actions.

Tuktirey yelps at her older brothers acts, feeling herself get crushed by Neteyam's weight as he tried to fit all of his siblings in one hug. Tsireya sniffs at the scene in front of her, making Ao'nung side eye her, contemplating if he should comfort her or not.

You let yourself sink into your siblings touches, clenching your jaws as you tried not to cried right then and there. Your heart ached from how you were simply so happy of your family surviving the events, so happy you were given the chance to spend more time with them.

You couldn't imagine yourself on your own in the future, you couldn't bare to even think about it. Your family is so dear to you. You wished this moment would last forever. You wished that same events earlier would never happen ever again. You wished time would go back from before, when it was just you and your family in the forest, before the sky-people returned.

Smiling at her children, Neytiri let's a lone tear escape her eyes as she repeatedly thanks the Greatmother for bringing her family together once again.

You hoped this moment wouldn't end. You wanted to stay like this forever. Where you and your family are back to their simple livestyles, where they were all happy together and those demons never existed. You wanted to live in peace again.

You inhaled the fresh air of the village, a smile forming on your face as you watched the clan go on with their daily lives. It had already been a few weeks after the attack of the RDA, and your brother was slowly healing from his wounds. You buried your feet into the sand, toes hidden under the small particles.

A sound from nearby catches your attention, and you turned to see Ao'nung approaching you. You grinned at his presence, feeling as if he's got something to say now.

"Good mood?"

And you called it. You shook your head with an amused smile, looking back into the waters. "You've got to fix that starting conversations skills of yours, lovely. It's horrid." You teased him, earning an offended scoff from the boy.

Ao'nung glances at you, taking in your smooth features with a fond smile of his own. His eyes then lands on the small scratches on your arms, "Are your scratches healing, by the way? It's been a few weeks, but it looks the same." You perked up, his fingers gently touching the thin scars.

You looked at the scratches he was touching, seeing how he was pointing out the most noticeable one. You hummed an assuring sound, nodding. "It's healing, don't worry." You grinned. Ao'nung raised a brow at you, almost looking smug. "Who said I was worried?"

"Oh please, it's written all over your face." Your hands gestured around his face, fingertips barely touching his skin. Ao'nung's eyes followed to your right hand, his own hand outstretching as he grasps your hand. You faltered at his actions, tail flicking, a gesture you do when you're flustered.

"(nickname), do you remember when Rotxo and i invited you with us to go swim?" He questioned. You hummed in thought, trying to remember what the hell he was talking about. "Which one?"

"The one where you got grounded."

A small flash of realization crossed your eyes, and you nodded. "I do. Why? Are you two going swimming today?" He shakes his head at your words, and you were left confused. He intertwines your hand he was holding with his own, beginning to walk as he was dragging you with him.

The water reaches your feet, and you still received no response from the boy. "Ao'nung, where are we going?" You questioned him, seeing him call out for his Ilu. He gives you a grin, "I'm taking you to the Cove of the Ancestors."

You blinked twice, wondering how he could still remember how you didn't get to join your siblings in the Cove. "You still remember that?" You softly let out a breathy chuckle, and he hums.

"Of course. I mean, i was half the reason why you couldn't go. Plus, that day was when you beated me against an Ilu race." He shrugged, giving you his usual teasing grins. You huffed, gently nudging his side with your elbow.

"You're so sweet to me, you know that?" You pinched his cheeks, and he swatted your hands away from his skin. "Only for you." He cheekily responsed. He holds your hand as you made yourself comfortable on his Ilu, and he took a seat in front of you afterwards.

He gives you a warning before he goes down into the water, one of his hand holding your hand that was on his waist, heading off to the direction of the Cove.

"What is it?" You questioned, giving a wary glance at your family. Your father shakes his head with a sigh, and your two brothers looked at you with a look of disbelief.

"Rotxo and i are gonna take a swim in the reef, do you wanna come?" He responds to your question, noticing your cautious glancing to your family. You slightly winced at his question, shaking your head.

"No, not today unfortunately. I'm grounded." You pursed your lips into a thin line, seemingly upset that you had to get reminded of that fact. Ao'nung let's out a sound of realization, nodding his head understandingly.

"But you didn't do anything." Rotxo perked up, slightly frowning. You only shrugged at his words, "Big sister responsibilities, yknow?"

"Maybe next time? When you're not grounded?" Ao'nung asks again, hopeful of your answer. You paused for a while, thinking about his offer. Eventually, you agreed.

"Alright. But any more trouble, and you two probably won't see me ever again." The two nodded their head timidly at your words. Rotxo definitely didn't want you to be in trouble again.

You bob your head at them slightly, "Now scram," You wave them off, shooing them away. Ao'nung waves at you, while Rotxo was.. being his usual silly self. "Don't miss us too much!" The short boy yelled, earning a smack from the back of the head by Ao'nung.

You snickered at their duality, returning back inside your families marui. You sit back down next to your mother, helping her with the stuff she said she doesn't need helping. Lo'ak suddenly shoves himself near you, looking at you with wide eyes.

"You and Ao'nung? What has gotten into you?" He slightly hissed through his teeth. You gave him a warning glare, feeling embarrassed as your mother was just beside you.

"Did he brainwash you..? Oh no, my poor sister." He cooes, shaking his head.

"Shut it, Lo'ak." You shoved him away, leaving him toppling over Kiri as she yelped in annoyance. You watched as Kiri scolds the poor boy from disturbing her time with Tuktirey, while the boy desperately tried to defend himself.

"New friend?" Your mother perked up, catching your attention. You only hummed as an agreement to her words, and she looked at you suspiciously.

"He's a friend, mama." You whined, leaning against her as she slightly grins at your words. "You remind me a lot about myself when i was just eighteen.. and that was when i met your father." She striked back, looking down at you as you continued to let out embarrassed noises.

"Don't." You pouted, looking at her with upset puppy eyes.

"I also used to hate your father." She continued, leaving you to deal with her torture. Your father from the side only shake his head, displeased by the scene as Lo'ak beside him was also agreeing this his father's distaste.

"My spirit sister, and her baby have been murdered by the sky people!" You watched as Ronal yell out the death of her spirit sister with glistening eyes, a hand coming to your mouth.

Neteyam keeps you close to him as he looked around the area, seeing the metkayina clan lift up their spears while they let out yelps of fierce cries.

"This war has come to us. We knew about this hunting of our tulkun people, but it was over the horizon, far away." The Olo'eyktan thumps his spear on the ground, "Now, it is here!" He fiercely announced.

The clan let's out vicious growls as they did the pukana. Your heart beats against your chest at the words of the Olo'eyktan. You have seen what those demons can do, as they have set your clans entire home on fire, you can vividly remember the memory as it was engraved into your brain ever since.

"You've gotta understand how the sky people think!," your father immediately steps in, catching the rest of the clans attention, as well as yours. "They don't care about the great balance."

A Metkayina man let's out an outraged yell, but you were too focused on your father to properly understand what he said.

"Listen— listen to him!" Neteyam grits out, his brows furrowed.

"The sky people are not gonna stop," Your father puts his hands up slightly, looking eyes wide at the Olo'eyktan and Tsahìk in front of him. "This is only the beginning. You gotta tell your Tulkun's to leave!" He points at the ocean, "You gotta tell them to go far away!"

The Tsahìk looks at him furiously. "Leave?," She starts, "You live among us, and you learned nothing!" She huffed. Your ears twitched at her words, and you hear another Metkayina man yell out.

"We will fight to protect our brothers and sisters!" He voiced out, raising his spear as he thumbs a fist on his chest. "No, no, no! If you attack. If you fight. Then they will destroy you!" Your father intervened.

"They will destroy everything that you love!"

The clan let's out yelps of cries at his words, fueling the fierce fire in them even farther. Your ears silenced the sound around you as your eyes scanned the people surrounding you. It was horrible to see that this fight has reached the people who didn't have anything to do with it, and now someone has to suffer because of the humans actions.

You truly felt devastated for the outcomes. You wished this wasn't what your father's intentions would result. You wished that those demons would just leave your precious pandora alone. You thought your family would be safe here, away from the forest.

But no. Those demons always have a way to come crawling right back.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when you felt the device used on the Tulkun leave your hand. You snapped your attention back to the scene, watching as your father now stood at the center, the device being raised up high. The crowd was silenced by his actions, watching as he spun it around to let everyone see.

"You tell the Tulkun's, that of they're hit by one of these, they are marked for death." He sighed. "Saving their lives, that's all that matters. Right?" His voice slightly breaks, and you see Tsireya slowly and slight nod at your father's words.

"Saving your family." He rasps. The clan stays silent as they thought at your father's words. The Olo'eyktan turns around to face his mate, Ronal. She breathes in deeply, holding her mate's arm with both her hands as he stands up to where your father stood.

"Tell the Tulkun." He states. Ronal sighs, looking at the clan. "Go. Go!" She rushes them.

You watched as Neteyam was distracted by something, but then he immediately leaves your side. Your hand slipped off his hold as he walked away, catching you off guard. "Neteyam—?" You follow him.

Your eyes moved in front of him, and you see as Lo'ak was running away. Finally catching up to what your brother was doing, you stayed silent and decided to follow him.

Lo'ak does a double take as he catches the sight of Neteyam, but then was even more caught off guard when you showed yourself from behind the tall boy. "No way you're going anywhere, baby brother." Neteyam calls out, walking towards the boy.

"I have to warn Payakan about the pingers(?)"

Neteyam waves a hand, gesturing it as a way of refusing. "No. You've got to keep your skxawng ass here." Neteyam responds.

"He's outcast, there's no other way to warn him but me." Lo'ak stands his point, really wanting to warn his bonded Tulkun. Neteyam was now looming over the younger boy, obviously also gonna talk about more.

"Bro," he placed a hand on top of Lo'ak's head before continuing, "Why do you have to make things so hard?" He slightly teased. Lo'ak shoved the boys hand away, triggered by his words.

You stood slightly behind Neteyam as you silently watched the scene, but your attention was on the stubborn young boy.

"No," here he goes. "You mean why can't I be the perfect son like you." Lo'ak spat back. Neteyam pursed his lips, his ears twitching as he nods his head, slightly stepping away. You glared as Lo'ak as the words came out of his mouth.

"Lo'ak!"

Your hiss fell on to deaf ears as he continued to speak of your brother. "Well I'm not you! Okay?" Lo'ak steps back as Neteyam nears him as the words escaped his mouth. Neteyam glared at his brother, "I'm not you. He's my brother, I'm going." He says one last time before taking his leave.

You glanced at Neteyam, feeling slightly guilty for your brother as you couldn't do anything to stop Lo'ak. Even though his words weren't directed at you, you felt awful for the way he treats his older brother.

At the corner of your eye, you see three individuals nearing you and your two brothers. You see Tsireya call out for your brother, hoisting herself up onto the woven mats. Lo'ak pulls his hand away from Neteyam's hold, glancing at the three who've just arrived before he dives into the water.

"Lo'ak! Fucking idiot—" You cussed out, srunching your nose as you tucked for your Ilu, whistling as you see her swim under the woven material. As you see her reveal herself, you dived down into the water, holding the handle as you heard more splashing from behind you.

Your Ilu swims out of the water as you tried to steady your breathing, and you see Kiri at the corner of your eye. "Sister!" Tuktirey exclaimed from behind Kiri. Your harshly flicked your hair off your cheek as it was stuck, glancing behind you as you saw Neteyam.

"Lo'ak's going to find Payakan." He says before diving back down, inhaling sharply. You glanced at Kiri unsurely, but before you went back down you looked at Tuktirey. "Don't bring Tuk."

You didn't hear her respond as you already dove into the water, following close to Neteyam as he was the one to see where Lo'ak was going.

You watched as Lo'ak tried to pull out the beeping device from a short distance, your older brother jumping onto the Tulkun's back as he tried to help. You fidgeted as you watched a boat nearing your group and the Tulkun, your breathing turning ragged as you were nervous of what's going to happen.

"Hurry, you two!" You hissed nervously, jumping onto the Tulkun's back as well to help. "Don't move it around like that! Pull it out, dont—" You let out an annoyed groan as Lo'ak stopped attempting to pull the beeping device.

"Lo'ak, call dad. Call dad!" Neteyam rushed the boy. Lo'ak nods his head, rushing further up Payakan's back as he pressed on the throat comms around his neck. You pressed on your the earpiece, looking at Lo'ak as you listened into their conversation.

Your eyes wandered at the boat. You tail wraps itself around your leg as you bit your lip. You watched as Ao'nung wraps a rope around the device, watching your brother as he was wrapping the other end around his ilu. The Ilu starts swimming forward, and you crouched down at the device, holding it roughly.

"Together! Pull it together at the count of three!" You yelled to catch their attention. They all nod at you, gripping the device tightly with their hands as Tsireya used her feet. "One, two, three, pull—!"

Rotxo let's out a rough yell as you grunted, bumping into Ao'nung as the device was finally pulled out. You swim to your Ilu, gesturing at her to follow the rest of the group as you were behind them.

You all settled into the tall, thick leaves of the waters, looking up at the boats above the water. Your eyes catches the sight of submarines in the water, and you turned at the group, signing then to swim off.

You tightly held on your Ilu's handle, trying to avoid the submarines gaining on your tails. You raised your arm in front of your face as the leaves start hitting your body, looking in front of you. Swiftly turning your Ilu to avoid the crab submarine that was in front of your group, barely dodging the robotic arm reaching at your Ilu.

Ditching your Ilu, you weakly attempted to stray away the crab that was chasing you, hiding into one of the big leaves until your reached a large pod that had a pocket for you to breath into. You hear another splash behind you, making you turn as you saw Ao'nung.

Letting out a breath of relief, you outstretched an arm at his cheek as you tried to steady your breathing. "Are you alright?" You questioned. The boy only nods, gulping water that went into his mouth at your actions.

You both tried to catch your breath in silence as you observed the lights around you, raising your legs up in case they could see it from underwater.

"Your sister— Tuktirey, Lo'ak, and Tsireya was captured." Ao'nung speaks up after catching his breath. Your ears twitched at his words, snapping your attention at him. "Where are they?"

He only shrugged at your question, and you let out a frustrated sound. You looked down in the water, and as if Ao'nung read your mind, he tried to intervene.

"Don't go."

"They're my siblings, Ao'nung. I have to fight." He shakes his head at your words, practically glaring at you for wanting to save your siblings. "Don't step in for the adults. It's dangerous for you out there." He grits out, grasping your forearm as he noticed you hesitantly trying to leave.

You bit your lip, looking away. "Ao'nung.." You desperately called his name. You wanted to save your siblings, and as well as his sister. You were raised and trained to be a fighter after all, but thise fight was far different than what you were trained for.

"Stay with me. please." He pleads.

You clenched your jaw, but nods at his pleas. "But first, we hunt for those damn crabs." You pointed a finger at him, and he holds a hand up, "Alright."

You tucced for your Ilu once again as Ao'nung does the same. You both count at the same time before disappearing into the water, holding eachothers hands as you did so. You swim towards your Ilu, grasping at her handle as your other hand made the bond. You signed at Ao'nung to follow you, and he obediently does so.

You both wove your ways through the large kelps. After a few minutes, you found your way out of the water kelped forest, and saw Kiri as well as Rotxo. The sight of a human coming out of the submarine catches your attention, and you grit your teeth as you began swimming towards it at full speed.

The teeth of your Ilu wrapped around the man's head, dragging him out of the submarine as you can faintly hear him scream into the water before he gets brutally crushed. The other man who was trying to get out of the water gets choked by the tentacles of the water flora, and you awed at the sight Kiri had made.

The glowing spots on her face dims, and you gestured her to come over. She swims over at you, holding tightly around your waist as you followed Ao'nung and Rotxo away from the bloodied scene you created, going up at the surface.

And then Kiri got taken away right after you all reached the surface. Just perfect.

You had difficulty in speaking though. You sometimes pause in the middle of your speeches, as well as you were often slow. You were always curious, but also often get tired easily. And by often, I really mean always.

But despite those conditions, you were one with the Tayrangi clan, and it doesn't matter what your differences was. You earned their respect when you completed the rites of passages, and it was all won fairly.

You were just out with your Ikran to get away from the clans loud buzzing of conversations. Earlier, the people had gathered since the Olo'eyktan, Ikeyni, had something to announce. Of course, your parents forced you to join them.

You managed to get out of the crowd from how your sensitive ears were practically ringing into your brain, physically irritating you. Eventually when you were just staring away into the ocean, you decided to go flying with your beloved Ikran.

Your hair was still slightly wet when you dove your ikran into the water when you noticed a very interesting fish swimming alone. Now, you and your Ikran stopped by a lone island just to get some small break. That ended up with you falling asleep.

You stirred awake in your sleep as you feel something annoyingly poke your cheek. You slowly rose up from the sand you were sleeping on, with a big leaf under your head to protect your face from being smothered with sand.

Tiredly, you rubbed your eyes as you tried to adjust your vision from the light stinging your eyes. The shadow of an unknown boy towers over you, simply waiting for you to finish your tired actions.

You finally turned your attention to him, looking at the boy blankly. You blinked, unable to see his face properly as the sun was lighting up him from behind and a shadow was casting over the boy.

The unknown boy crouched down to your level, looking at you as you finally got a good look at him. Your eyes widen at the sight of his sharp, smooth features, and you actually found him slightly attractive.

"Uhm, I'm not gonna waste you time, but why are you here..?" The boy questioned, nose scrunching at his awkwardness. Your lips pursed, and you looked around your environment as if you were trying to remember why as well.

"If you're looking for your Ikran, she's just by the side of the island fishing fishes neat shore." He informed you. He watches as you stood up, your hair falling off your shoulder and down at your back. Ao'nung stares at you, still confused as to what kind of clan you're from.

He stands up as well, following you as you walked away. "Listen, you can just tell me of you're lost. I will bring you back to my village, and we could possibly get help from there." He states at you, stopping right in front of you.

Your gaze followed from the sand, and to his face. "..I'm not— I am not lost." You pursed your lips into a thin line, noticing him furrow his brows. "Okay.. so what are you doing here then?" He questioned again.

"Went hunting with (ikran name).. got tired, so we stopped in this island." You spoke slowly, sometimes pausing your mid sentence. He notices your eye moving slightly sideways, as if it were shaking.

He grows concerned, "Are you okay? You're eyes—"

"It's normal. Don't worry about it." You slightly smiled, finding his concern nice. He looks unconvinced, still worried. "What.. are you..? I've never been taught about your kind before." He questioned, seemingly amazed and in disbelief.

"I'm actually from Tayrangi clan. I'm the only one from my clan with 'albinism.'" You truthfully answered the boy. You continued to walk, and he follows you. "What's albinism?"

"..albinism is a condition i have from when I was born.. it's a condition where you have reduced amount of melanin, or no melanin at all," You slightly paused, glancing at him. "This condition can affect the colouring of the eye sight.. the lack of melanin causes the paleness."

He finally nods, understanding. "That's cool." He awes, grinning at you. You blew small raspberries, unsure how to feel about his words. "It's a pain.. im very sensitive to the sun, or light in general." You sighed.

He frowned at your words. You were sensitive to the light but you're standing out in the open where the sun was affecting you more. "You should probably go back to your village. It's not safe for you here." He suddenly says.

You paused at his words, yawning tiredly. You eventually nodded, agreeing with him. He walks you to where your Ikran went off to, and helps you up when he noticed your tiredness. You connect the bond with your Ikran, and she grunts at your actions.

Before you take flight, you looked at the boy. "What's your name?" You asked him. He looked taken aback for a moment, but answered you. "Ao'nung." He bobbed his head.

You smiled at him slightly, before you pressed your fingers on your forehead and outstretched it towards him, doing the oel ngati kameie sign. He does the same, before he watches you take slight into the air with a fond smile.

Everyday, was all he thought about you was a friend? Someone who he can trust with his troubles? Someone who he can just hang out everyday to entertain his boredom?

You truly can't bare to see Lo'ak and Tsireya so happy with eachother. Their laughters and giggles bubbling in the air reaching up to your drooping ears.

You only can muster a strained smile when he comes to hang out with you after Tsireya leaves. We're you just some 'another person' he can go to once the one he truly likes to be with goes? You didn't want to think badly of him, really.

You weren't together in the first place, and neither can you control who he likes, but you wish he hadn't just threw you aside after he found someone new.

Sighing deeply, your ears drooped down to the sides on your head, the strands of your hair brushing against your ears at the actions. You were with Tuktirey, taking a rest from the water as you were both tired from the learning.

Tuk pouts at you, walking towards you as she stops in front of your seated position. "(nickname), why are you so sad?" She questions softly upon hearing your tired sighs.

Your eyes snapped towards her, removing its gaze on the sand as you looked at her sympathetically. Were you seriously so acting pathetic to the point a seven year old noticed? How embarrassing..

"I'm not sad, Tuk. Im just tired.." You let out softly, smiling at the girl as she looked at you unconvinced.

"I know you're sad, (nickname). I know what your sad face looks like." She says stubbornly, standing her point until you tell her the truth. You slightly laughed at her words, amused. "I have a signature sad face? What does it look like?" You attempted to stray her away from her point.

She tried to mimick your facial expressions, watching as her face scrunched. "I don't think I'm doing your sad face right.." she hums, looking down at her nose as if she was trying to see her expressions. You giggled, your hands caressing her hair.

"But you still look pretty when you're sad, yknow? So pretty! You never have a time where your prettiness goes away, (nickname)." She states adorably, smiling cutely.

"Really? I'm sure my sleeping face is pretty ugly."

Tuktirey hums at your words. "Well you wouldn't know.. you can't see yourself when you're asleep!" She exclaims as a matter of fact. "But I wouldn't know either.. I haven't seen you asleep. Plus, it'd be kind of weird to look at your friend while they're sleeping." She pouts.

You laughed, arms wrapping around her form as you pulled her into an embrace. "You're so cute, reyrey~" You pressed a peck on her cheeks, watching as she giggled.

"You look so miserable right now.." Neteyam looked at you, slightly concerned. You slightly glare at him for stating that right in front of his friends. Ao'nung also turns to you, as if wanting to see you pathetic.

"Gee, thanks Neteyam. As if I hadn't known that already." You waved him off, tucing out for your ilu as you, Neteyam and few of his friends were getting ready for hunting.

"Awhh. You poor thing, are you homesick?" Rotxo perks up, frowning at you sympathetically. You looked at him for a slight second, dumbfounded.

"Are you.. awhing me? Skxawng." You turned away, huffing under your breath.

"If you're not gonna tell us, we're not leaving this place." Neteyam voiced out, watching as you paused. You turned to him, blankly.

"You boys wouldn't know. It's girl things, you'd find it hilarious if I told you." You commented. Ao'nung crosses his arms, feeling challenged at your words; "Oh really? Try me."

"Try US." Neteyam glances at him, correcting Ao'nung.

You blew raspberries, rolling your eyes. "It's not important."

"Yes it is. My sister only acts like this if something reaaally got on her nerves. So if you won't tell us, we'll force the information out of you." Neteyam perked up immediately after your statement.

"Come on, (nickname). We won't laugh at you, i promise." Rotxo smiles, encouraging you to speak up. You let out a frustrated sigh, your nonexistent brows furrowing as your nose scrunched. "Fine. But if one of you laughs, im setting an appointment for you in hell."

The three boys immediately stops whatever would distract them. Their ears perked up, listening to whatever you're gonna say.

"There's this boy," You eyes their reactions, creeper out by their weird stares. "I like him. But—"

"He likes someone else?!" Rotxo cuts you off, and you looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. The two remaining boys looked at you for confirmation, and you sighed as you nodded your head.

"Oh..." Neteyam pursed his lips, knowing who exactly you were talking about.

"..So? There's lots of boys here just practically waiting to get your attention in the village." Ao'nung breaks in, looking confused still.

"You don't get it, Ao'nung. This boy is someone I've spent practically my whole life with— and he just throws me away." You hissed slightly at the thought, distaste filling your tongue.

Rotxo makes a face as you revealed way too much, now feeling guilty for encouraging you to say why you're acting so miserable.

Neteyam looks at you sympathetically as you let go of your Ilu, looking done. "I can't believe I'm even talking to you boys about it right now." You whispered, looking down into the water as you hugged yourself.

"Look, I'm sure what you're feeling would eventually pass. It would be hard, but I promise you, it'll hurt less just as you slowly lose your feelings for him." Neteyam slightly touches your arm, smiling in comfort. You bit your tongue, wanting to say something but just let's it go.

"Let's just go hunting." You finally looked at them, grabbing the hunting gear from Ao'nung without a second thought. The boys looked at eachother as you swam away with your Ilu, wincing at the damage they just made.

"I take the blame." Rotxo raises his hand, making the two look at him blankly.

"I'm getting good, y'know?"

You hummed at his words, listening intently as he told you about his day. Lo'ak claps his hands, continuing to boast about his progress with a smug smile.

"Lo'ak?"

He stopped talking at your words, looking at you expectantly when you called out to him. He raised a brow, watching as you tried to form tour words carefully. "..do you like that girl? Tsireya?"

Lo'ak's eats drooped at your question, his lips pursing nervously. You eyed his reactions, and smiled reassuringly. "You can trust me, Lo'ak." You patted his hand, waiting patiently at his answer.

"Truthfully. I don't know yet?" You hummed, understand where he was getting at. You ignored the stinging sensation in your chest as you forced yourself to listen to him about Tsireya.

If you were gonna move on from him, you're gonna have to confirm of he really likes Tsireya. It wouldn't be healthy if you continued to like the boy while he liked another one, your mama taught you better than that.

"She's nice, really caring as well. But I've only known her for a few days, but then again there's some kind if connection." He looks at you, observing as you were following his words.

"So you're unsure?" He nods at your question.

"..maybe I can help..? Help you figure out your feelings for her, I mean."

He looked hesitant by your words. But he eventually nods his head again, appreciating your offer. You slightly grinned, happy how he can trust you like how he did back at home.

"First, tell me how you feel about her."

Lo'ak clears his throat, humming in thought. "I think she's really sweet, friendly, and just over all likable. She's really cute too, y'know? Her encouragement and praises are so simple, but it just motivates me to keep learning." He smiles as he talks about her.

You notice his way of speaking about the girl, and that was when you finally accepted his feelings for her.

"Sounds like you like her.." You voice out, watching him snap to look at you in surprise.

"Seriously? But doesn't it seem.. weird? It's only been a few days." He shrugged, still finding it oddly weird that he can develop such feelings for Tsireya in just a few days. You slightly laughs at him, shaking your head.

"Lo'ak. If your feelings for her are genuine, pure, and just overall real, then there's no point in denying you like her. Loving and liking are two different things, liking can develop in just a few weeks or so, but loving is a different step." You grinned in amusement as he still remained unsure.

"You sure..?" He looks at you suspiciously. You put up a tight smile, nodding.

"I'm sure."

He let's out an exhale, his hand coming down from his face in literal disbelief. "Wow.. you girls are definitely a whole different breed when it comes to emotions." He awes, slightly grinning at the roll of your eyes.

"Oh please, it's not just us girls."

"No, seriously! Just think about it. You could tell I liked Tsireya just by listening me talk about her? Like, that's practically magic." He teases you. You scoffed playfully, shoving him slightly to the side.

You decide to humor him, and you nodded smugly. "Yknow what. Maybe it is magic?" He gasps, and you chuckled.

"Okay, stop that now." You scolded him, watching as he continues to gasp at you, looking at you as if you were some kind of wizard.

Ao'nung sits beside you out of nowhere, following your line of gaze. He looks at Tsireya and Lo'ak playing in the water, watching as they splashed water on eachother while their cackles filled the air.

The boy turns to you, intently watching your side profile as the sunset perfectly lightened your face, the light complimenting your skin.

"You're smiling at them..? I thought you'd be sad." You grunted at the sound of his voice, turning to him, displeased that your mood got ruined.

"I'm smiling, because I'm happy." You gritted out, slouching your back as you huffed. "But now, I am sad because you ruined my mood."

"You're.. happy? Why?" He stupidly questioned. Just yesterday, you were acting so stiff and miserable to the point even his idiotic friend Rotxo noticed. But now you were happy for the cause of your miserableness yesterday? Man, girls do have weird moodswings.

"Because he's happy, Ao'nung. I took your stupid words yesterday, and also Neteyam's. I'm gonna move on." You spoke up, turning away from him.

He looks at you in realization. "Oh.. well good for you." He smiles. You glanced at him, your nose srunching in amusement. "If you're here to talk to me, you're doing a bad job." You perked up, your ears twitching as it caught the sound of Ao'nung's disappointed sound.

"You're words absolutely hurt, you know that? Be more nicer to me." Her pouts. You hide your amused grin from your hand, but your chuckles managed to reach his ears.

"I helped him realize his feelings for your sister earlier. We had a talk, and when I heard him talk about her so genuinely, I finally accepted that he wasn't the one for me." You suddenly said amongst the silence. Ao'nung straightens his posture upon hearing your words.

"Well, what's it for you then?"

"..what's what? I don't get what you mean." You turned to him with furrowed brows, confused by his point.

"Don't you want to feel loved, too?" His eyes flicked around your face, observing the perfect lighting that bounced off your smooth skin. You contemplated for a while. "I do want to feel loved. But I'm not gonna seek that from someone who's happy with someone else. I'm gonna eventually find someone who truly loves me, as do I with them, but now isn't the time for me." You state, watching as the boy awed at you words.

"That's pretty smart. I'm happy for you, (name)."

You grinned, "That's the first time you called me by my real name. usually you call me idiot." Ao'nung looks at you in faux surprise, a hand coming to his chest as he gasped. "I do not."

"You do!" You chuckled. Ao'nung shakes his head in disbelief, frowning at you. "You always make me sound like a bad guy."

"I do not."

"You do!"

"Now you're just imitating me." You crossed your arms across your chest, pouting as Ao'nung opened his mouth to say something idiotic again.

"I am not."

Lo'ak watches as you smiled at Ao'nung. He knew about your admiration for him, but he was too scared to tell you he doesn't feel the same way. Every day, he had to face you casually as if he wasn't guilty of what he felt about you.

It was equally as painful for him to watch you fall for him, back when you were both still at the forest. It hurt more when he saw you hurting when you see him with Tsireya.

He only saw you as a friend. Someone who he trusts, and always look forward to spending his day with. His feelings for you were never romantically, and he felt bad for leading you to thinking he felt the same just for treating you well.

He noticed your move when you talked to him about Tsireya. He was worried for a moment, but then you started to talk to him into helping him realize he has romantic feelings for the girl. He was slightly happy you were moving on from him. You deserve so much more than him, you deserve someone who wouldn't hurt you like how he did.

He wants to see you happy. That's all he wanted for you.