#avatar angst

"I have you," he murmured, his large, calloused hands steadying your waist. His brow was furrowed, eyes searching your face with a mix of irritation and deep-seated worry. "You are clumsy today. Even for you."

"I am just tired, Aonung," you breathed, leaning into his cool chest. The scent of salt and the familiar musk of his skin usually calmed you, but now, the world was spinning.

He lifted you easily, ignoring the giggles of the children nearby, and carried you toward the shade of your family’s marui. As he laid you down on the soft woven mats, the smell of the drying fish outside hit you. Usually, it was the smell of home. Today, it was a threat.

Days later, he found you draped over a sun-warmed rock near the shallow reefs, your spear lying forgotten in the sand while the other hunters were already halfway to the drop-off.

"The fish will not jump into your lap, pretty girl," Aonung said, though his tone lacked its usual competitive edge. He swam closer, hoisting himself up onto the rock beside you. "My father is asking why the best tracker in the village is currently napping like a forest-slug."

You didn't even open your eyes. You just groaned, shifting your weight. "The rock is warm. The sun is perfect. Tell your father the fish can wait for one day."

Aonung frowned, reaching out to touch your neck. You weren't hot—your skin was cool and damp from the spray—but there was a softness to your features he hadn't seen before.

"You are lazy, yawne" he murmured, poking your side. "Even Lo'ak works harder than this today."

You finally opened one eye, giving him a look so withered it should have scorched him. "If you poke me again, I will bite your hand off."

-

You loved the way the sun turned the ocean into a sheet of shattered diamonds, but now, the glare made your head throb with a rhythmic, dull ache.

Aonung was watching you, his playful smirk slowly dying as he saw the way you swayed. He’d been teasing you for your "laziness", but as you sat on the edge of the sun-bleached rock, he saw your throat hitch. Your breathing became shallow, jagged, and your hands gripped the rough stone until your knuckles turned a ghostly white.

"Yawne," he said, his voice dropping the bravado. He swam closer, reaching up to pull himself onto the ledge. "Do you need me to call my mother? You look—"

He didn't get to finish.

A wave of violent nausea crashed over you, more aggressive than any tide. You barely had time to lurch toward the edge of the rock. It was a total betrayal of your body. You doubled over, racking tremors taking hold of your spine as you retched into the salt water below.

It was a raw, ugly sound that tore through the peaceful afternoon.

"What-" Aonung’s voice was laced with a sudden, sharp panic. He scrambled onto the rock, his large hands catching your shoulders just as your strength gave out. You felt so small against him, your body shivering violently in the heat.

"Aonung..." you choked out, your vision tunneling into black spots. The acid in your throat burned, and the sheer exhaustion of the last few days seemed to culminate in this one, agonizing moment. You felt terrifyingly sick.

He pulled you back against his chest. His tail was thrashing the water behind him in a frantic rhythm, a clear sign of his rising fear.

"I have you. Breathe, ma'Y/N," He wiped the sweat from your brow with a trembling hand, his eyes wide as he searched your pale face. "Eywa, why are you like this?"

He was genuinely terrified, watching the person he loved most slip away into a sickness he couldn't fight.

"It’s... it’s okay," you whispered, leaning your head into the crook of his neck. The violent nausea had stopped, leaving you hollowed out and trembling.

"It is not okay," he hissed, his grip tightening as if he could hold the life inside you by sheer force of will. "I am taking you to my mother."

-

The examination was brief. A few quiet chants, the steady pressure of Ronal’s hands over your abdomen, and then a knowing, sharp smile.

"The sea has planted a seed," Ronal announced, her voice echoing in the quiet space. "You are not ill. Well, you are, but you are simply carrying a new heavy burden of life. Rest. Eat what the body asks for. The nausea will pass when the moon turns."

-

The walk back to your own marui was silent, but the air between you and Aonung felt charged, like the moments before a great storm. He didn't say a word until you were both inside, tucked away from the prying eyes of the village.

You collapsed onto your sleeping mats, you felt heavy and strangely content. Aonung stood over you for a moment, looking uncharacteristically lost.

"Aonung?" you murmured, reaching out for him.

He moved closer, his tail wrapping around your thigh in a subconscious tether. He kissed you softly and then, tentatively, he reached out your belly. He hesitated for a heartbeat, his fingers hovering over the soft curve of your stomach, before he finally pressed his palm flat against you.

His hand was massive, covering nearly the entirety of your belly. It was warm as he touched you, as light as sea foam.

Aonung leaned down, his face inches from your skin. You watched with a soft smile as his ears flickered nervously.

"Listen to me, little one," he murmured, his voice dropping into a low, vibrating rumble that you could feel deep in your bones. "I am your father. You are already causing a great deal of trouble for your mother, making her lay in rocks, causing nausea and even eat bitter things."

You let out a breathy laugh, your eyes watering with happy tears as his thumb traced a slow circle over your skin.

"Grow strong," he continued, his tone turning fierce and protective. "The reef is waiting for you. The Tulkun are waiting. And I... I am waiting. Do not rush, but know that when you arrive, you will have the fastest ilu and the sharpest spear in the clan. I will make sure of it."

He pressed a lingering kiss to your stomach, his breath warm against you, before looking up at you with eyes that shone like the bioluminescent sea.

"You are carrying our child, a hunter/diver," he murmured and smiled at you, his grip tightening just a fraction—enough to let you know he was never letting go.

"I think they will have your eyes," he whispered kissing your temple, "And my stubbornness. May Eywa have mercy on us both."

-

Aonung’s plan was simple: keep the news quiet until the next full moon. He wanted to savor the secret, to protect you from the inevitable chaos of the clan’s excitement.

But Aonung was never particularly good at keeping his internal world off his face.

The "squad"—Rotxo, Tsireya, and even Lo’ak—were gathered by the communal fire-pits, sharpening their hunting daggers. You were sitting a few paces back, leaning against a woven pillar, currently focused on a bowl of a strangely bitter seeds Aonung had scavenged for you.

"Aonung, you’re sharpening the back of the blade," Rotxo remarked, squinting at his friend. "Are you planning to club the fish to death?"

Aonung snapped out of his trance, his ears flattening. "I am focused. You talk too much."

"You’ve been staring at Y/N for twenty minutes," Lo’ak added with a smirk, nudging Rotxo. "And she’s just sitting there eating... are those dye-nuts? Those taste like dirt."

Aonung’s tail gave a sharp, defensive flick against the sand. "She can eat whatever she wants. They are high in... minerals. For the spirit."

Tsireya looked between you and her brother, her head tilting with that innate Metkayina intuition. "You are acting strange, brother. You didn't even join the race today. You said you had to 'check the stability' of your marui’s floorboards?"

"The wood looked soft!" Aonung defended, his voice going up a suspicious half-octave. "It is important. If the floor breaks, someone could fall. Someone... heavy. Or someone who needs to be held up."

He looked at you, his gaze lingering on your stomach with such intense, blatant longing that Rotxo actually dropped his whetstone.

"Aonung," Rotxo said slowly, a grin spreading across his face. "Why are you looking at her like she’s a sacred Tulkun?"

"I am not! I am just..." Aonung scrambled for an excuse, his face heating up to a deep shade of teal. "I am ensuring she is breathing correctly."

"She’s been breathing for years, man," Lo'ak laughed. "I think she’s got it down."

You caught Aonung’s eye and gave a tiny, mischievous nod. You knew he couldn't hold it in. He was vibrating with the need to brag, to claim this new title.

Aonung took a deep breath, puffing out his chest. He tried to look stoic, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.

"If you must know," he began, his voice dropping into a performative future-leader bass, "I have decided that Y/N requires extra monitoring because she is currently... busy."

"Busy doing what?" Rotxo asked.

"Carrying a future Olo'eyktan... Or Tsahìk" Aonung blurted out.

The silence that followed was broken only by the crackle of the fire. Then, Tsireya let out a high-pitched squeal, leaping to her feet to rush toward you.

"A baby?" she cried, her eyes shimmering. "I am going to be an aunt?"

"Wait, for real?" Lo'ak blinked, looking impressed. "Aonung, you're gonna be a dad? You can barely handle a stubborn ilu."

"I will be a great father!" Aonung said dramatically. He stepped in front of you like a shield, his hand instinctively reaching back to hover near your knee. "She needs more seeds. Rotxo, go find more of those bitter seeds. Now."

As the group erupted into questions and cheers, Aonung leaned down toward you, ignoring the boys' teasing. He whispered just for you, his tail winding tightly around your own in the shadows.

"So much for a secret," he murmured, his eyes glowing with pride. "But they already know our little one is going to be the strongest of the reef."

He reached out, his thumb quickly brushing over the fabric covering your stomach and he kissed you, already acting like a overprotective father-to-be.

🌊⋆｡⋆˚࿔°.🐚⋆❀˖°⋆˚࿔

Tsu’tey quickly ends training for the day, sending all his students away before walking over and grabbing your wrist and pulling you away from Ka’lan. “‘tey what are you doing? I was in the middle of a conversation!” You shout as he continues dragging you into a secluded area of the forest where no one would be able to intervene in your pending argument.

He doesn’t answer, just continuing to pull you away which annoys you. “Tsu’tey, answer me!” You pull away from him which forces your arm to release from his hold and Tsu’tey turns around to face you. “If this is about Ka’lan I have told you a million times me and him are just friends!”

“And how many times must I tell you he wants to take you from me? He does not want to just be your friend!” He hisses as he throws up his hands in confusion, wondering why you won’t believe him.

He knows his intuition was right, after all, he’s a male himself and he knows you are attractive so he understands other men will take a liking to you, he just doesn’t appreciate Ka’lan doing it so blatantly in front of his face.

Tsu’tey’s husky tone mixed with anger, his heightened voice, and possessive demeanor makes a heat spread through your core. You love him being protective over you, you find it sexy and the more he shows his anger the more you feel the need to clench your thighs to create some sort of friction to give yourself the slightest pleasure.

Even though he’s titillating with his actions, you’re still upset with his behavior. “Yes, he does! He tells me about other women he likes in the clan all the time!” It’s true Ka’lan does tell you about the women he was drawn to but he always left one out, the woman he’s head over heels for.

“What must I do to make you understand?!” With you and Tsu’tey going back and forth, it only makes his anger bubble over even more. He’s about to conjure up another rebuttal until he noticed the way your tail is moving behind you.

Being Na’vi, your tail is always moving subconsciously but when you are aroused your tail moves in a specific manner which Tsu’tey always takes notice of. When it clicked in Tsu’tey’s head he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle out of amusement.

Here he is upset that another man was making passes at you and you’re getting turned on from his anger, probably not even listening to a word he’s saying.

He walks up to you, wrapping his hand around your neck, causing your eyes slightly widen as you slightly bite down on your lower lip. “You like this don’t you?” He growls in your ear while slipping his free hand into your loincloth, moving his fingers along your folds that are drenched in your slick.

You hurriedly nod your head, silently gasping when you feel Tsu’tey’s fingers force their way into your pussy, his digits getting immediately soaked in your slick.

He maneuvers his fingertips and starts pressing against your sweet spot, making you grab onto his bicep to keep yourself steady. “Seems like I will have to make you understand another way.” You look up at him with half lidded eyes, watching his lips curl into a slight smirk. He tugs on your bra top, giving it a quick yank and ripping it in half, causing your breasts to pop out.

Tsu’tey has a plan in motion, a plan that consists of putting you in multiple positions, fucking you until your voice is hoarse, and making you scream his name so everyone roaming the forest knows that you belonged to him and no one else.

—

Ka’lan is walking through the forest trail with his bow slung lazily over his shoulder, half-listening to the rustling trees, and half-lost in his thoughts. He’s still replaying your laugh from earlier, the way your smile curled when you teased him by the tree, how your nose crinkled when he made that stupid joke about his hunting mishap.

Ka’lan has always liked you, ever since you both were teenagers chasing palulukan [thanator] pups after your parents told you not to. He’s always been able to keep his feelings at bay, but lately? That small crush has stretched into something much deeper than some sort of puppy love.

It’s the kind of wanting and desire that lingers behind his ribcage and causes his throat to tighten every time he sees you walking beside Tsu’tey, holding hands and being lovey dovey. For the last few weeks he’s been noticing something different between you and him.

You laughed at something stupid he said earlier, your fingers brushing his arm without a second thought. Just a small touch, light as a feather, but it lit something in him. ‘She doesn’t touch Tsu’tey like that’, he thought.

But that was a lie, a hopeful delusion and he knows it. Still… things felt different, he can tell. You linger longer when the two of you speak. You look him in the eyes when you speak, not past him like other women do. Sometimes, you let the silence stretch too long, as if something unspoken hung between you, which leads Ka’lan to believe there’s still a chance to win your heart.

Ka’lan has been telling himself to back off, that Tsu’tey is the future Olo’eyktan. A man who can decide his fate in the clan. A man who can make his living hell if he crosses him. But that feeling only lasted until he saw the way Tsu’tey gripped your wrist too tightly when he dragged you away earlier.

Seeing the way Tsu’tey’s eyes followed your every move in a possessive and controlling manner made Ka’lan angry. That moment made him realize that Tsu’tey didn’t deserve you. Simple as that.

When Ka’lan starts trying to think of ways he can woo you, he hears something strange. A noise, something that sounds similar to a muffled cry. He stops walking for a moment, allowing his ears to hone in on where the sound is coming from. His ears perk up at the sound of a particular voice, yours. It’s immediately recognizable. It’s sharp and breathy, echoing faintly through the trees.

At first it sounds like you're screaming and then it turns into a loud cry, causing a panic to flutter in Ka’lan’s chest. Was someone hurting you? Are one of the sky people torturing you? He doesn’t know what’s going on but if someone is hurting you he’s going to come save you.

He picked up his pace, following the sound deeper into the forest. As he walks, the voices grow louder. Your voice. Then another, one he can’t make out at first but it sounds much louder than yours, needier even.

Ka’lan’s chest rises and falls quickly now, his feet moving faster over the roots and moss-covered earth as he weaves through the trees. His grip on his bow has tightened, fingers flexing as instinct braces him for the worst.

He can hear you clearly now. Your voice floating through the air in waves, uneven and raw. “Please—” you gasp.

The word jolt Ka’lan’s heart, making him think you’re now begging your captors for your life. He breaks into a sprint. The trees thinned ahead, sunlight streaking across the clearing. ‘Just a little further’ he says to himself, scanning his eyes across the forest for the sight of you. ‘Just get to her. Get to her and—’

Out of nowhere he stops dead in his tracks. The sound of his breath caught painfully in his throat, as if the wind had been completely knocked out of him. Out of all the scenarios his mind created in his mind, this is the last thing he thought he would witness. The last position he would find you in.

You're bent forward on your hands and knees, body arching into each thrust of Tsu’tey’s hips as he grips your waist with a bruising force, making you claw your nails into the ground underneath you for support. Your mouth is wide open, and your eyes squeezed shut in overwhelming pleasure.

Tsu’tey’s behind you, his chest gleaming with sweat, the muscles in his back flexing with every deep roll of his body against yours, like he’s trying to fuck every ounce of his love into you while making sure you know that you’re his.

Ka’lan’s eyes widen at the sight before him, heart lurching violently inside his chest while the scene unfolds. He can see and hear everything: the way your breasts bounce with every harsh thrust, the wet slapping of skin, the creamy ring forming on the base of Tsu’tey’s cock, the possessive grip of Tsu’tey’s hands like he wants to mold your body to his forever.

You aren’t being hurt.

You aren’t in danger.

You’re being claimed.

“Oh, Tsu’tey—harder, please!” you cry out, and Ka’lan flinches at the desperation in your voice. At how your voice isn’t filled with any pain or discomfort, but pure desire. It sounds as if lust is leaking out of your pores.

His heart cracks clean down the middle as he watches the two of you move together like you’ve been made for this. Like you and him are made for each other. He tried to look anywhere but your face, but your eyes, even closed, somehow glowed with something Ka’lan believes Tsu’tey didn’t deserve but still owned completely.

He should turn around. Should walk away and give you and him privacy. But he can’t. He just stands there frozen, hidden partially behind a thick trunk, his large eyes wide with quiet heartbreak and shame. His ears twitched at every wet slap of your bodies meeting, at every moan you gave to the man who clearly had your heart. A man Ka’lan hated. Envied. Even secretly feared.

Ka’lan’s grip tightened on his bow, trying to keep himself together, not knowing what to do. He thinks he’s in the clear, that no one will see him here hidden away in the shadows… until Tsu’tey looks up and meets his gaze.

Ka’lan doesn’t know what he expected him to do. Maybe a flinch, a flash of surprise in eyes, him stopping his attack on your pussy and trying to cover your exposed flesh. But Tsu’tey doesn’t do any of those things.

Instead, Tsu’tey looks him right in the eye and smirks. That same cocky, knowing smirk that has always made Ka’lan want to punch a tree.

Tsu’tey isn’t one bit surprised to see Ka’lan because he knew he was there. Knew he would take this route on his way home, knew he would be nosy enough to come and take a look. He strategically set this up. Tsu’tey wanted Ka’lan to see him destroy your guts, see you in the same position Ka’lan wishes to have you in, and listen to you cry out his name in the process.

Without saying a word, he slips his hands around the front of your body, tightening one hand around your throat, lifting your head up and making your body press closer against his, driving into you deep enough to pull a broken cry from your lips.

He slows down just a tad, rolling his hips in a deep, grinding motion that makes you gasp his name again, unaware of the silent audience just beyond the tree line.

Tsu’tey smirks, leaning over your shoulder, his lips brushing the shell of your ear, cupping your breast and pinching your nipple until you spew out a moan. “Say it,” he growls. “Who does this body belong to?”

“You, baby.” you cry softly, feeling his cock press against the spongy spot in your core, your walls fluttering around him each time your ass slams into his pelvis.

Tsu’tey thrusts himself harder into your wetness, enough to make your knees buckle from the force. When he sees your stability falter he catches you with ease, huffing a dark chuckle as you mewl against him. “Say it louder, need the whole forest to hear you.”

“It belong to you, Tsu’tey! Just you!”

“And who do you love?” he asks, voice getting louder, not for you, but for Ka’lan so he can hear that your heart belongs to him.

“Tsu’tey… I love you.” you whimper, clawing at his arm that’s snaked around your pretty frame as he picks up the pace again.

“Tell me who is your future mate.” he demands, glancing up at Ka’lan one more time, a wicked gleam in his eye as he thrust hard, making your entire body jolt forward, practically knocking the wind out of your lungs.

“You! Tsu’tey… only you!”

Ka’lan swallows hard, his jaw locking so tight his teeth aches while his heart twists in his chest. Every word you speak, every moan he hears, is another arrow to his pride, another nail in the coffin of the wishful fantasy he’s been desperately clinging to.

For the final blow, Tsu’tey places soft kisses on the back of your neck before turning your head towards him and engulfing your lips in a sloppy, wet kiss, your tongue and his swirling around each other, fighting each other for dominance.

When he pulls away there’s a line of saliva keeping you and him connected, making everything unraveling between you two even hotter. His hand is gripping your jaw, making sure since you’ve opened your eyes, your focus is on him and him only.

When you look into Tsu’tey’s eyes you see they aren’t their usual golden color, they're much darker, filled with lust, jealousy, and other emotions you can’t put a name to at the moment. Tsu’tey’s voice is low, so low that Ka’lan almost misses it but you hear him clear as day: “No one else will ever get to touch you. Not in this life, not in the next. You are mine.”

Tsu’tey turns your head slightly to the side, giving him a clear view of your throat, the same one he loves shoving his cock in whenever you're giving him attitude. He grazes his tongue across his fangs, looking down at you with something primal in his eyes. His mouth hovers over your skin, then he lowers, biting the nape of your neck.

When you feel his teeth sink into your skin, you let out a sharp hiss, your tail instinctively wrapping around his thigh, and your body melts into Tsu’tey’s, enjoying the euphoria that fills your veins as he marks you.

Marking is one of the oldest Na’vi customs, meant to bind two souls together. A territorial act, born from a time when clans had to fight for their mates. It’s not done lightly. And once it’s done, it’s seen as a vow, a warning, and a claim all in one.

While Tsu’tey marks you, with the taste of your blood on his tongue, he’s looking Ka’lan dead in his eyes, sharp as blades, while he hides behind a tree like a cowering child. Tsu’tey holds Ka’lan in his stare like a warning: You will never have her.

Ka’lan’s heart pounds in his chest, shame and fury tangling together so violently it makes his stomach turn. He wants to fight. He wants to scream. But instead he leaves, not being able to stomach the sight of you being fucked by Tsu’tey any longer.

He turns and walks away, heart pounding so loud it drowns out the sounds behind him. The soft cries, the whispered praises, the wet rhythm of two people tangled in something too deep to ever be undone.

Once Tsu’tey sees that he’s gone, his lips curl into a smirk against your skin. When he’s satisfied, feeling like his point has been proven to Ka’lan and to you, he takes his fangs out of your skin, allowing your blood to settle on his tastebuds. It’s warm but somehow sweet, making him fall more in love with you than he already is, feeling like now your souls are deeply connected now that your blood runs through his veins.

After a while, you and Tsu’tey fall into a steady rhythm again; his thrusts are long, deep, and deliberate, each one pressing into the furthest part of your womb like he’s trying to carve his name into you from the inside. The way his hips roll, slow but firm, makes your thighs tremble with every stroke. His groans turn to curses in Na’vi, breath hot against your neck, voice hoarse and ragged with need.

You cling to him, moaning his name like a prayer, and just as your walls begin to spasm and squeeze around him, he lets out a sharp grunt and buries himself deep, hips locked against you as his hot seed spills inside.

Your back arches as your climax washed over you in thick, aching waves, your vision going white as he fills you, until the pressure is too much and his seed begins to leak out of you, smearing on your thighs, Tsu’tey’s groin, and soaking the earth beneath.

Tsu’tey doesn’t pull out immediately. He stays deep inside you, his breath slowing as he holds you close, one hand splayed possessively over your belly. He presses a kiss to your skin, heart still pounding, and you can feel the weight of something heavier in his touch.

Tsu’tey closes his eyes for a moment, lips brushing against your ear. He doesn’t say it aloud, but it pulses between you anyway. There’s a hope, a want, even a silent wish.

He secretly hopes his seed will take root. That maybe, soon, you will swell with his child. That your womb will grow full with proof you belonged to him, and that no one will ever dare to look your way again.

And beyond that: he wants a family with you, he always has. He wants little feet running through your shared mauri, braids tied with the same beads he once gifted you, a child that had your eyes and his temper, clinging to your hip. Raising children with you would be a greatest honor in his eyes.

Eventually, your trembling slowed, your breathing softened, and the two of you sank into the moss beneath you, limbs still tangled together.

Tsu’tey cradles your face and kisses you again, this time slow and sweet, full of warmth and affection. A stark contrast from earlier. You sigh against his mouth, smiling lazily as you look up at him with tired eyes. “I’m not going to speak to Ka’lan anymore.”

He exhales through his nose, forehead pressed to yours, happy to hear you’re finally seeing things his way. “Good.” It satisfies his soul to know that you’ve finally taken heed to what he’s been expressing to you and that he won’t have to worry about Ka’lan anymore after the show you both just put on for him.

Tsu’tey is never allowing a man to think they have a chance with you, he’ll fill your neck with markings to let every single Na’vi know that you’re bound to him until the end of time.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓… @eme1hyst @o-kingston @erenjaegerwifee @Kaydoux @biaaaaaaaa1 @hikotaru @thisaintredwine @lexieeeeeeeei @that-gurl25 @Peanut713521 @anemonelovesfiction @jakesullyfatjuicypeen @makaylalovessmut @lustforlana4 @Anita @pandoraslxna @iris-xoxo-juhu @Domineezy @hc-geralt-23 @ikeyniofthetayrangi @hogwartsismyhome @himikoquack @strawberriesvt @wolfhowling5234 @t-wylia @emilymikado @atomicslimetoadstudent @shmaptainbonky @moonstidalwaves @rae @bigdikzaddy @roseblushpink1 @3xclusive-kylani @sussybaka10 @galactict3a @shima @deadgirlrin @Tssavatartey @buble787635 @normspellmann @em-x0 @sliqeramx @lexasaurs634 @simpformelissa @headsincloud9 @jane-3043 @bakugouswaif @Tssavatartey @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @savagemickey03 @yetanotherattemptatanaccount @neteyamsblog

You watch now as he paces around the marui, muscles flexing, you dissociate as he yells in pits of rage, but your eyes can only see one thing;

the photos. the ones you took such delicate time to put up, the photos where you and Neteyam are posed and happy, young and in love. 

And the ones of your children, your three, half blood children. Two with five fingers and only one with four. 

Neteyam’s voice rises and falls like a blade striking stone. Words spill from him, laced with anger and grief, all of it aimed at the sky people, something you will always be on the inside.

You don’t flinch anymore when he gets like this.

Not on the outside, at least… Because inside, something else is happening. Your gaze stays fixed on the wall of your marui.

On the carefully placed memories that feel like they belong to someone else now. You remember even the day you took the first photo. 

He had been shy about it, awkward, complaining about the strange human device in your hands. But he smiled anyway, soft, reluctant but real. The kind of smile that never reaches him anymore.

But you had captured him like that. You had captured both of you like that. Before the war carved him into something harder.

Before his eyes began to look through you instead of at you. 

A sharp sound pulls you back, his hand slamming against a wooden beam. You don’t jump, you just blink, slowly, like surfacing from the ocean.

“They are monsters.” He spits, voice cracking at the edges. “They take and take and take—there is nothing good in them.”

Your chest tightens immediately. Nothing good. The words settle heavily in your ribs, pressing against your lungs. 

Because what does that make you?

What does that make your children?

Your eyes drift again, to the smaller photos beneath. Tiny hands gripping his fingers. Wide smiles, mismatched features, some his, and some yours. Beautiful in ways this world refuses to accept.

Neteyam turns, still breathing hard, still burning, and for a moment his eyes land on you. There’s something there—something conflicted, something almost guilty, but it vanishes too quickly, swallowed by the storm behind it.

You wonder, not for the first time, if he sees it, if he sees what his words do to you. Or if, somewhere along the way, his hatred grew so large that it stopped making exceptions.

Even for you, and even for them.

“They wear our skin like armor, with their alien hands. I hate their pink, little hands!” He curses, “they’re so weak and small. All of them. I hate them all, Y/n.”

“You don’t mean that.” you murmur.

“Yes, I do.” He snaps.

The marui feels so small now, tight in the air of his wrath. “You hate me?” You ask, voice shaking. 

His expression shifts. “You are not them.” 

“I was born one,” you whisper. “I have their blood.” 

“You are not them,” he repeats, louder this time.

You flinch slightly, small—subtle, but he notices. “You hate your children? With their alien hands?” 

“No.” He says, too quick.

“And what am I, Neteyam? If not half human?” 

He opens his mouth, then closes it. Silence follows. 

“And what are they?” You continue, softer now, but heavier than anything he’s said.

Neteyam does not have to ask to know who you are referring to. “They are Na’vi.” He says, firm.

“Some of them look like me. With their little alien hands. Right?” 

“They are ours.” He says, quick, like it fixes everything.

You shake your head. “Will the People ever see it that way?”

He doesn’t answer because he can’t. Silence stretches tight and suffocating. And then it breaks.

“I don’t know why you keep defending them!” he bursts. “After everything they’ve done—after everything they’ve taken!” 

“I am not defending them!” You shout. “I am asking you to see me when you look at them! To see your children, your brother, your sister, to see your father!”

“I do see you! And I see my children, I see Kiri and I see Lo’ak!  I have always seen my father!” He steps closer, voice rising.

“No you don’t,” you say quietly, but it lands like a blade. “Not when you talk like this.” 

His jaw tightens, frustration twisting into something sharper. “They would burn this place to the ground without a second thought.” He whispers harshly. “They would take our children-“

“Stop,” you warn, voice cracking. 

But he doesn’t stop. “They would take them, alter their minds. Make them forget us,” he says, voice rising again. “Make them speak like them, turn them against their own family! Against the People.” 

Silence slams down between you. Your chest tightens, not shock, not anger, just the cold burn of hurt. 

“And that’s what you think I am?”

“Neteyam freezes. “I didn’t-“ 

“You just described me,” you say, tears brimming, voice trembling. “Someone who speaks like them, thinks like them. Someone who left them behind.”

“That’s not-”

“Then explain the difference,” you cut in softly. “Because I don’t see one.”

He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, and that’s when you break. You step out, passing him, passing the woven photos, and passing the marui. 

You don’t look at him, you just walk until you practically can’t anymore, until you reach a wooden post at the edge of the village. Your hands grip it, and you finally let yourself be. 

footsteps approach as quickly as the tears fall. “I’m sorry, baby.” A familiar voice whispers behind you. 

Before you can react, his hands are wrapped around your chest. Gentle and steady. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean a single word to hurt you.” 

Your hands reach up to grip his arms. “I was angry,” he continues, low and urgent. “And I,” his lips brush your ear, his breath ghosting the sensitive area beneath them. “I never meant to make you feel like you don’t belong here with me and with us.” 

“But you did.” You breathe.

“I know,” he murmurs, voice rough, filled with regret. “And I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t want you to feel torn apart by my anger.” 

You close your eyes, letting his presence flood through you. “It hurts, Neteyam. Even if you don’t mean it. I hear it.” 

“I hear you,” he whispers, voice almost breaking. “I see you, I see all of you. The human, the Na’vi, everything in between. And I love all of it. I love you.” 

Your shoulders shake, but not from fear.

“I will try to hold back from this anger, for you and for the children. I will hold you, all of you.”

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding, his hand snakes over yours, over your fingers. 

“And I will always try, because I don't want to lose you or the kids.”

Your tears finally fall freely, without you cowering or shrinking away. But this time, you let him hold you. 

Your children turn a corner and are about to enter the marui when they spot you, each of them run over—holding toys, carved and painted by their small hands.

The moment shifts the air completely. 

Your youngest reaches you first, her small feet slapping softly against the ground, cutting through the tension like sunlight.

She crashes into you without hesitation, small arms wrapping around your legs like nothing in the world could ever be wrong. 

“Mama!” She chirps, her voice bright and breathless. The others follow close behind—one skidding slightly to a stop, and the other slowing just enough to take in your face.

Your middle child tilts her head, eyes flicking between your tear streaked cheeks and Neteyam standing behind you. “Why are you crying?” she asks.

You open your mouth but nothing comes out yet. Neteyam’s arms loosen just slightly around you, allowing you some space, not speaking over you. 

you sigh heavily, forcing your voice to steady. “Just big feelings. sometimes they come all at once.” You brush your hand over your youngest daughter’s hair. 

Your oldest steps closer now, more cautious than more aware. His gaze lingers on his father for a moment—reading him in that quiet, instinctive way children sometimes do—before returning to you.

“Are you hurt, Mother?” He asks.

You shake your head quickly, pulling him close with your free arm. “No. No, I’m okay.” 

It’s not entirely true, but it is enough. Neteyam exhales behind you, like he’s trying to relearn how to exist now. His hand shifts, gently covering yours where it rests against your child’s back. 

Your small girl steps back just enough to hold something up proudly. A little carved toy, painted unevenly but with so much love that it makes your chest ache.

“Look Mommy! Look Daddy! I made this for you.” she says.

You blink, your vision blurring again, but softer this time. “For Me and for Daddy?” 

She nods eagerly. “It’s all of us!” 

You take it carefully, like it might break. Four fingers, one taller than the rest, one slightly broader—Neteyam. Then three smaller ones in between. 

Some are carved with four fingers, some with five, none of them look out of place. And this is somehow better than any picture.

Something in your chest cracks open, not painfully but wide, like light finally letting in. 

Neteyam’s hands move over yours, tracing the small wooden piece that fits perfectly in your hands. Your tail slows behind you, lifting so high that it brushes his neck. 

Your oldest leans against your side. “We’re all there,” he says simply, pointing at the carving. “See?”

“I see, my love.” you whisper. 

And you do, you see not the division, not the doubt, or the words thrown in anger, but you see the messy, imperfect, undeniable love. 

Your middle child suddenly looks up at Neteyam. “Did you make Mama cry?” She asks. 

Neteyam stiffens, for a moment you wonder if he’ll deflect it, soften it, or turn it into something easier. But he doesn’t, and when his voice comes, it is quiet. “Yes.” 

Honesty settles heavier than anything else. Your children don’t recoil, they don’t fear him. Your youngest just frowns slightly, then rubs your leg like she’s trying to fix it herself.

“Don’t do that.” She says matter of factly. 

Neteyam lets out a breath that almost comes out as a laugh, but it fractures halfway through. “I’ll try very hard not to.” He leans to her level. 

She gets closer to him now, her five fingers spreading across his cheeks, squeezing. “Good job, papa.” 

Your oldest studies him for a second longer, then he nods like he’s decided to believe him. 

Just like that, children forgive in ways adults forget how to. In this small and growing moment, you’re not too much of anything. You are exactly who they reached for when they carved that little piece of wood. 

@cursed-carmine for the ribbon divider, thank you!

Masterlist

You were his first child, the one who came before the others softened him, before he learned how to kneel when someone cried instead of telling them to stand.

Jake Sully did not know how to be a father when you were born, he only knew how to be a soldier, so that is what he made of you.

From the time you could walk steadily, he placed a bow in your hands. From the time you could climb, he told you not to look down. When you fell, he did not rush forward in panic like other fathers might have, he stood back, arms crossed, watching with sharp eyes that measured strength instead of fear.

“Get up,” he would say, and you always did. You learned quickly that praise from him did not come in soft smiles or warm embraces. It came in nods. In fewer corrections. In silence that meant you had done well enough.

Then Neteyam was born, and something shifted not in you, but in him. He was still strict, still commanding, but with Neteyam there was pride that felt warm instead of heavy.

When Neteyam succeeded, Jake’s voice carried approval. When he failed, Jake corrected him, yes, but with a hand on his shoulder and a steady reminder that he would do better next time.

With you, it was always expectation. “You are the oldest.” “You set the example.” “You don’t get to make mistakes like that.”

Lo’ak came next, and Jake’s frustration with him felt different too louder, but almost… forgiving. Lo’ak was reckless, and Jake scolded him for it, yet there was something in his tone that said he understood that recklessness, because it mirrored his own.

Kiri was treated with a tenderness that carved something quiet and painful inside your ribs. When she asked questions about Eywa, Jake crouched to meet her eyes. When she grew overwhelmed, he softened, voice low, patient in a way you could not remember him ever being with you.

And Tuk sweet, small Tuk wrapped around his finger so easily that sometimes you wondered if you had imagined the version of him that once lifted you into the air without worry about how strong you would become.

But you never complained. Because you were the firstborn.

You were the one who braided Tuk’s hair when her hands were too small to do it herself. You were the one who helped Neteyam practice late at night when he thought he was not good enough. You were the one who stood between Lo’ak and Jake when arguments burned too hot. You were the steady one, the reliable one, the one who did not cry when scolded.

Warriors do not cry. Warriors endure.

The night before the final battle, when the sky felt too quiet and the air carried the kind of stillness that comes before something terrible, Jake called you aside.

He did not ask if you were afraid. He did not tell you to stay safe. He simply looked at you with that assessing gaze and said, “You’re in charge of the younger ones. Keep them out of the fight unless it’s unavoidable.” There was trust in it. Heavy trust. The kind he had been building into you your entire life.

You straightened instinctively. “Yes, sir.” He placed his hand on your shoulder briefly, firm and grounding, and added, “You’re my strongest.” It was meant as pride, and maybe it was, but it felt like a burden settling more firmly across your back.

The battle was chaos, fire against water, screams swallowed by waves, gunshots splitting the sky. You moved through it the way he had trained you to move calculated, aware, always thinking three steps ahead. You kept Tuk close, directed Lo’ak with sharp gestures, reminded Kiri where to run and when to hide.

You were not thinking about yourself. You never did.

The moment comes in a blur a flash of metal, a split-second alignment of danger and innocence. The shot was meant for Neteyam. You see it in that strange way warriors sometimes do, where time stretches thin and clear. There is no hesitation in you. No weighing of cost.

You shove him aside. Pain tears through you, violent and blinding, and suddenly the world feels distant, as though you are underwater without having entered the sea.

You hit the sand, and it feels warm beneath you, too warm. Voices blur together. Tuk crying. Lo’ak shouting. Kiri praying. Neteyam is at your side first, his hands pressing desperately against the wound as though he can will your body to obey him.

“Stay with me,” he says, and it is almost ironic, because you have said those same words to him more times than you can count. You try to answer, but your voice feels thin. Then Jake is there.

He drops to his knees beside you with a force that shakes the ground, and for the first time in your life, he does not look like a leader or a warrior. He looks like a father. Terrified.

His hands press over yours, trying to stop what cannot be stopped, his voice breaking as he says your name again and again as if repetition alone could anchor you here. “You’re okay,” he insists, but the words tremble. “You’re okay.”

You look at him, and in his eyes you see something you have chased your entire life not expectation, not evaluation, but pure, raw love. “I tried,” you whisper, because that is what you have always done. Tried to be strong enough. Good enough. His face crumples in a way you have never seen.

“I know,” he says, voice shattering. “I know, baby.” The word hits harder than anything else. Baby.

You cannot remember the last time he called you that. You want to tell him you were not angry. You want to tell him you understood why he raised you the way he did. That maybe he had been trying to prepare you for a world that would not be gentle.

But the world grows dim around the edges. You feel your siblings close, their hands clutching at you as though they can keep you tethered through sheer will. Jake presses his forehead to yours, and his shoulders shake as he whispers apologies you can barely hear.

You protected them. You fulfilled the role he carved into you. And as the light fades, you realize that the only thing you ever truly wanted was this to be held like you were something fragile instead of forged.

After you are gone, the silence in the family feels unnatural, like something essential has been pulled from its center. Jake no longer speaks as sharply. He no longer demands perfection. He holds Tuk longer. He listens to Lo’ak without immediate correction. He answers Kiri’s questions with patience he once reserved only for her.

And sometimes, late at night, he sits alone with your bow resting across his lap, staring at the worn grip where your fingers once held tight, and he whispers into the quiet,

“I should have protected you.” But you were the firstborn.

"I wish I'd been there. The ocean blessed you with a gift, brother."

"Kiri shh-" I say trying to grasp the story that Lo'ak is telling us. We sit in a circle with the Metkayina children, listening. From Aonung and the other boys leading him outside of the reef, to him nearly meeting Eywa to him getting saved by a Tulkun.

"The tulkun have not returned yet. And anyway no tulkun is ever alone." Aonung states with a shrug, his tone clearly showed that he didn't belive Lo'ak.

"Well this one was," Lo'ak says, his voice tight. "He had a... missing fin. Like a stump on the left side."

"Payakan." Tsireya mutters, almost to herself.

I glance at Neteyam. He's just as confused as me, shaking his head, trying to figure out how this fits together.

"Who's Payakan?" Kiri asks.

"A young bull who went rogue. He's outcast. Alone." Rotxo finally says.

"They say he's a killer..." Tsireya warned, gripping Lo'ak's arm.

"No..no." He said, removing her hand.

"He killed Na'vi, and other tulkun." Aonung finishes.

"No. He's no killer..." Lo'ak shakes his head, his chest rising and falling with anger.

"Lo'ak, you're lucky to be alive." Tsireya says.

"I'm telling you guys. He saved my life." Lo'ak insists. But the look on everyones faces say otherwise, "He's my friend."

Neteyam finally stands up after staying silent a long moment. "My baby bro! The Mighty Warrior who faced the killer tulkun and lived to tell about it, huh?" he teases.

Lo'ak angrily shrugs him off, "You guys aren't listening."

Tuk softly says, "Lo'ak, I'm listening." But he just stormed off, legs moving fast over the sand.

"Lo'ak! Come back!" Kiri called

We all watch in silence as he walked away and toward the beach, calling an ilu and disappearing into the shimmering water.

They started talking about visiting the Metkayina's version of the Cove of Ancestors but I can't. It just doesn't feel right seeing my ancestors in someone else's land.

"If Payakan is such a killer why would he bring Lo'ak back into the reef barrier?" I ask Tsireya as we stand to leave.

"Y/n we, the Metkayina, were taught this. It was a tragedy in the south." Aonung warned walking away without looking back

I roll my eyes walking toward our mauri, "That's probably what other Na'vi told mom when meeting dad... but guess what? Eywa allowed it." I said to myself.

I enter the mauri and see sa'nok making lìngpay, food for dinner, humming a tune softly to herself.

She doesn't even look up when she asks, "Ma'ite, why are you not out there with the others?"

I shrug fiddling with the edge of my loincloth. "They're going to the cove of ancestors."

Finally she lifts her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. She gestures for me to come closer. "And you do not wish to see the ancestors?"

I shake my head. "Not here, not now," I sigh kneeling beside her, "Maybe once we go home."

She watches me for a moment, like she can see through all the things I'm not saying. "The ancestors are everywhere ma'ite," she says gently. "Even here."

"Maybe," I mutter, "but the ones who know me aren't in the water."

She pauses. Something flickers across her face, understanding? sadness? maybe even a hint of agreement. Sa'nok was forest first. I think she still is.

I start helping her pick scales off the fish she's preparing.

"Hypothetically," I say, trying to keep my voice casual. "What would you do if a whole clan doesn't trust someone for something you know they haven't done?"

I see her jaw tighten, ever so slightly. "People fear what they do not understand. Even I do."

"Yeah," I whisper. "That's what they said about dad too, right? When you first met him?"

She looks sharply at me, surprised. Then softens. "Eywa brought your father to me for a reason."

"And maybe..." I say thinking of Lo'ak's face, when he said that Payakan had saved him, "...maybe Eywa brought him to Lo'ak too." I whisper to myself.

She reaches for my songcord, a quiet gesture. "Who has Eywa brought into your brothers life Ma'ite?"

I shake my head, "He met this tulk--"

"Mom! Mom!" Neteyam bursts in, cutting me off.

"It's Kiri." he says, breathless.

The Sully household had been up early to in with Kiri. Dad had told us as a family not to go to the Cove of Ancestors because of what had happened to her.

"Because Sully's..."

"Stick together!" we all said in unison, holding Kiri's hand as she tries to weave a bead into Tuk's hair.

Suddnely, the sound of a conch blasts through the air. We all run outside to see what's happening.

"What's going on?" Dad asks.

The members of the clan rush toward the ocean, excitement making their movements sharp, precise.

"The tulkun have returned! Everybody our brothers and sisters have returned!"

I looked out over the water and see them. A massive herd of tulkuns, breaking the surface moving with power and grace toward the village.

I ran toward them, bouncing with each step.

The joyous sounds of the Metkayina fill the air, voices high with yips and cheers.

"I see you!"

"Sister!"

The yips rise, echoing across the waves as everyone swims toward their tulkuns.

In their endless cycle of migration, the tulkun had come home.

I turn to see my family making their way to the water, eyes wide with wonder and awe.

Even underwater, the tulkun are beautiful, bigger than I imagined moving like the ocean itself as clicks filled the air, ones that only translated to their respective Na'vi's.

We play. The Metkayina and the tulkun allow us, to interact with a part of them Eywa had chosen.

It was a time for stories, of their season apart. Of deaths, of births. Old friends, and new loves.

Silence. The waves crashing too loud.

Cries pierce the air.

"What is this Tonowari? What is this!"

"She was my Spirit sister!"

I spin around, looking for Lo'ak as the clan sails off to warn their tulkuns of the dangers ahead. Neteyam and Lo'ak stand near ilu's, faces tense. I walk over to them trying to stay out of the way but close enough to hear.

"No way you're rolling out of here baby brother." Neteyam says stepping toward him.

"I have to warn Payakan about the pingers."

"No. You've got to keep your skxwang ass here."

"He's outcast. Theres nobody to warn him but me!"

"Bro, why do you always have to make things so hard," Neteyam jokes, but Lo'ak isn't laughing.

Lo'ak shrugs off his hand. "You mean why can't I be the perfect son like you? The perfect little soldier. Well I'm not you!"

"Okay? I'm not you! He's my brother. I'm going."

"Oh, he's your brother? No! I'm your brother."

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the Metkayina kids gliding on their ilu's toward us. I wave my hand sharply for them to be quiet.

"Get off me!" Lo'ak shouts, shoving Neteyam before diving straight into the water. His ilu rushes under him.

"Lo'ak!"

"Come back!" Tsireya yelled.

"Come on, he's going to Payakan!"

Everyone scrambles for their mounts. I take a small running jump forward.

"Reya!" I shout.

Tsireya swimgs her ilu sideways so I can grab on behind her. My fingers latch onto her shoulders, and we take off after Lo'ak.

We swim across the water, and Kiri and Tuk suddenly ride in from somewhere on Kiri's ilu. "Kiri! Tuk! Come!" I call breath catching as we chase Lo'ak.

"Lo'ak come back!"

A deep and heavy wail shakes the waters.

Payakan.

We leap off the ilu and climb onto his massive side, fingers slipping on wet skin as we scramble to the pinger. It's jammed deep. Everyone pulls, grunts, strains.

A sharp, low mechanical hum reaches my ears. I snap my head up.

"Hurry! There's a ship coming!"

The words explode panic across all our faces. The pinger is wedged too far into him.

"Call it in. Hurry, tell dad." Neteyam orders Lo'ak.

Lo'ak fumbles with his earpiece. "Dad-- I mean devil dog do you read? We're with a tulkun that's under attack." he says into the ear piece. "Killer ships inbound we're about two klicks out."

A pause.

"It's all of us, Aonung, Rotxo and Tsireya too. We're at three brothers rocks." Lo'ak suddenly says.

"Yes sir." he said replying to something.

"It's getting closer!" I shout again.

I scramble back onto the ilu Tsireya and I came on, my heart pounding as they tied the pinger onto Neteyam's ilu and pulled on it.

Snap. The pinger finally rips out of Payakan.

"Go! Go! Everyone away from it now!"

We dive into the water. A boom rips the ocean behind us, shaking Tsireya's ilu underneath me. I cling to her arm desperately as we rush toward the others.

Everyone is hiding, everyone besides Neteyam who had taken the pinger and seperated from us.

Small dark shapes fall into the water from the ship.

Machines.

We swim through the kelp forest, the machines chasing us. The ilu moves so fast that I have to grip onto Tsireya even tighter, having nothing to hold onto but her.

A thunk knocks us off of the ilu, a flotation pinger.

Tsireya grabs my hand before I can get flung too far away from her as Lo'ak dives in on his ilu, dragging us away. But the weight of all three of us slowls the ilu down.

We slip off and hide in the kelp, watching as the ilu darts away. The machine following closely behind it.

My throat starts to close, panic washing over me. I tap my throat, struggling for airr. Tsireya quickly leads us to an air pocket inside of a plant.

"Tuk!" Lo'ak and I shout at the same time after surfacing.

"Are you alright? Where's Kiri?" I ask my voice echoing weirdly in the plant.

"I don't know.." Tuk gasps.

We all fall silent, listening.

"It is coming!" Tsireya whsipers, warning us.

"We gotta go." Lo'ak says, we all take a deep breathe in.

We dive back into the water, just in time to see two machines coming towards us.

Then

A net surrounds my vision, I look around frantically to see Tuk and Tsireya are caught too. Lo'ak slips out just before it closes.

We're yanked upward, the ocean below us as an ikran lifts us higher and higher. The dream walkers, the same forest ones, capturing us.

I let out a scream as I claw at the net. Tsireya and Tuk are yelling too, fightning tangled.

We're dropped onto the metal deck of the ship. Stumbling out of the net with the others.

"Drop the weapon!" a dream walker shouts at Lo'ak. He's holding his knife toward them.

A dream walker grabs my arm before I can reach for my tsal. He yanks me down, slamming me onto the cold metal. His boot crushing into my stomach.

"Let me go! You demon!" I thrash, trying to pry his boot off of me.

I watch as Tuk fights a dreamwalker too, her Metkayina knife knocked from her hand as she hits the floor. Tsireya is still tangled in the net, struggling like she's drowning in it as a dreamwalker tries to restrain her too. Lo'ak is pinned like me but on his back.

The sounds of sky people yelling grabs my attention.

"Hey! Hey what are you doing stop. Don't hurt them!" Spider yells.

He tries to move toward us but gets grabbed and shoved by two soldiers.

I clawed at the leg that was keeping me down, "Stop it you little shit!" He said grabbing my my arms and pinning them down, I hissed at him.

I look over to see Spider and Lo'ak talking hurridly as they're restrained.

Quaritch drops from his ikran, boots slamming onto the deck. "Keep him there." he orders his soldiers. Then turns to us.

The dream walker keeping Lo'ak down lifted him up, "Yeah. I remember you."

"Cuff em to the rail. All of 'em."

Hands grab me under the arms and sling me between Tuk and Tsireya. I growl but I can't break free.

"Be brave." Lo'ak says.

Yips and ululation echo from the water. I squint my eyes to see.

The Metkayina warriors.

"Na'vi inbound!"

"Spread out! Weapons up!"

"Dad!" Tuk screams. I looked at the clan and see dad in the front along side Tonowari and Ronal.

Quaritch rips off Lo'ak's earpiece. "Jake, tell your friends to stand down. You want your kids back, you come out alone!"

My stomach twists. I shake my head even through dad can't see.

"You know better than to test my resolve," Quaritch finishes.

Tsireya chokes out, "Lo'ak no."

I turn to see why. Quaritch is pressing a gun against Lo'ak's head.

I growled as I turned to look back at the Na'vi in the horizon, I didn't want to see what was happening.

"I took you under my wing Jake," he started, "You betrayed me. You killed your own people. Good men, good women. I will not hesitate to execute your kid."

Silence.

I looked at the Na'vi on the water.

They're weapons had lowered. I let out a breath. They won't fight, not now.

"What's it gonna be?" Quaritch demands.

Dad moves across the water, alone.

"Easy shot." a soldier mutters.

"You hit em now and they'll attack. Wait until he's on board."

Only the sounds of the ocean can be heard as we watch as my dad surrenders. The skimwing he was on slowly gliding up to the boat.

Suddenly, the sea explodes upward.

"Payakan!"

The whole ship violently shakes when Payakan slams down on it. The impact so hard it rattles in my bones. I lose my footing for a second barely catching onto my restraints that i wanted to remove oh so badly before.

"Hold on!" Lo'ak yells.

I don't need him to say it. My hands are already clenched so tightly they hurt. Everything around us is screaming, metal, peoples, guns as they started shooting at Payakan.

Bright blasts fly across the air, loud and sharp, too close, I duck my head even though there's no where to hide.

Payakan swings his tail across the deck, and bodies go with it. Sky people fly. Some hit the railing, some disappear over the edge. I see Lo'ak move out of the corner of my eye, he kicks one of them straight into Payakan's wing. I hear the sound when it hits. That must hurt.

I look away from him, everything's wrong.

I yank at my restraints, pulling hard, then harder, then using my teeth because my hands weren't strong enough. I growl at the restraints, my jaw aches. They won't break.

We need to move. We need to go.

The sounds around me gunfire, shouting, metal ripping make it worse, make my skin feel too tight. It hurts.

Then I hear it.

The ululating sound cuts through everything, close and loud, and my head snaps up before I even think about it.

Payakan dives back into the sea, and past the edge of the ship I see Dad and the Metkayina charging in. They move together, tast, and then they all dive under as bullets rip into the water where they just were.

As chaos erupted around us I tugged at my restraints, using my teeth to try and remove them. Growling in frustration at my attempts not working. The sounds of destruction adding to my want to be freed from the rail.

The sudden ululating creeping closer got me looking up from the work i was doing as Payakan finally dove into the see, I saw dad and the metkayina charging toward the ship.

They all suddenly dove into the water as the bullets from the weapons they had started blasting.

"Sully's inbound! I want eyes on!"

Looking up, my neck craning, and that's when I see Mom on her ikran.

She's already moving, already pulling her bow, and then a helicopter goes down under her arrows. It spins and crashes, fire blooming out of it.

"Mom!" I yell, my chest tight, and she ululates in reply, sharp and fierce, like she won.

Skimwings burst out of the water around the ship as Metkayina warriors attack, and my heart starts pounding harder. Everything feels close. Too close. I pull at my restraints again, harder now, because everyone else is moving and I'm not.

"Y/n! Relax!" Lo'ak shouts.

I huff at him, angry and breathless, and bite at the restraints again. Relaxing is stupid. Relaxing doesn't get me off the rail.

Then the ship suddenly lurches forward.

The ground tilts and my stomach drops, and for a second it feels like I'm floating.

I grab the railing without thinking, the same railing I wanted gone, and hold on as the ship surges ahead. I look around to everyone in the air, faces frozen as the ship lifts up.

"You okay?" Lo'ak asks, and we all start tugging at our restraints, fingers slipping, hands shaking.

All around us are groans and hisses as everyone fights to get free. My arms burn as i put all my focus into these orange restraints.

"Neteyam!" Tuk yells.

I look over just in time to see him crouch in front of us, calm like this is normal, like the ship isn't falling apart around us.

"Hey, baby brother, need some help?" he says, already cutting through the restraints with his knife.

"Shut up. Come on. Get us loose," Lo'ak snaps.

The restraints fall away and my arms feel light and free again as i nod appreciatively to Neteyam.

“Finally.” I mutter.

"Get Y/n and Tuk out of here," Neteyam says to Tsireya.

I don't wait. I grab Tuk's hand and run, my feet slipping as we bolt for the edge of the ship. The water hits us hard and cold, knocking the breath out of me, and when I come back up I see Kiri being carried back onto the ship by a dreamwalker's ikran.

"We've got to go back to her, Tuk says, already swimming toward the demon ship we barely barely managed to escape from two minutes ago.

My stomach twists. I don't want to go back. I don't want to climb that ship again. That place is full of demons.

"Tuk, wait!" Tsireya calls.

"Sully's stick together,” she says, still swimming toward the ship.

I hesitate, then follow Tuk. Tsireya follows after us, calling my name, and we climb back onto the ship, hands slipping on wet metal.

"Tuk, this is not a good idea," I whisper to her, but she's already moving.

We see Kiri restrained near the railing.

She looks up, surprised.

"Tuk!"

I pull out my hunting knife, my fingers shaking, and crouch beside her.

"Cut it here," she says, pointing, and l lean in close. The sun is sinking, eclipse is near, and everything feels slower, heavier.

Then something slams into me.

Tuk is suddenly yanked away, lifted off the ground, and Tsireya is thrown back into the water. I gasp and lunge for Kiri, sawing at the restraints as fast as I can, my hands slipping.

Before I can finish, two dreamwalkers grab me from behind. My knife gets knocked out of my hand and I watch it hit the water and sink, gone. They shove me and Tuk back against the railing and restrain us again.

"Not this again!" I hiss, staring at my wrists.

"I can't believe I'm tied up again." Tuk whines.

I lift my head. The dream walkers are forming up now, weapons ready. The sun fully disappears and the ship is swallowed by darkness, broken only by fires burning along the deck. Shadows jump and twist everywhere.

"Talk to me, Corporal. The ship's going down, and your girls with it."

Quaritch's voice slides through the ship, cold and calm. As he walks out of the shadows of the ship.

"The boy didn't have to-"

A heavy thud echoes above us. I look up, ears perked, then at Tuk and Kiri.

They don't react. I look back toward Quaritch and what he was saying.

"—you brought that on yourself.

"You thought you could keep your family safe, but you can't," Quaritch says, his voice bouncing off the walls. My throat tightens and I swallow hard. "Only one way to keep them safe."

"So let's get this over with before you lose another kid!"

The explosion hits before I can think.

Fire flashes bright, too bright, lighting everything for just a second. I see bodies thrown off the ship and into the dark water below. The blast knocks me backward but the restraints hold me in place, jerking me hard. Screams tear through the air.

Gunfire replaces them almost immediately. Sky people shout into their earpieces, frantic, following Quaritch's orders.

Then I see an arrow slam into a man's chest.

I gasp and turn to Kiri and Tuk.

"It's Mom!"

Quaritch stares at the feather, his face twisting. Kiri snarls at him.

"That's right. They're coming for you."

"Demon," I spit, and Quaritch hisses back. Tuk hisses too sharp.

He moves fast. He grabs Kiri, cuts her restraints, and drags her away.

"Kiri!" I scream, straining forward until she disappears into the dark.

Dad appears at my side and cuts Tuk's and my restraints. "Girls. Where's your sister?"

"She went that way," Tuk says, and we follow Dad, his arm out in front of us like a shield.

Quaritch steps out of the shadows with a knife pressed to Kiri's neck.

"Running out of time here, Corporal," he says. "You already lost one kid today.

You really wanna lose another?"

My chest tightens. I look around for Lo'ak. For Neteyam. I don't see them.

Dad moves forward.

"Do not test me!" Quaritch snaps, pressing the knife closer.

"Just kill him, Dad!" Kiri cries as Quaritch yanks her kuru and she groans.

"Weapons down," Quaritch orders.

"Don't, Dad. Don't," I whisper, clutching Tuk's hand.

Dad drops his weapons. Kicks them away.

Quaritch throws him restraints. "Cuff yourself."

Spider appears from behind a pillar.

"No! Don't hurt her!"

"Stand there!" Quaritch snaps.

Mom suddenly bursts from the shadows, grabbing Spider the same way Quaritch holds Kiri.

"Release," she warns. "Or I cut."

Quaritch scoffs. "You think I care about some kid?"

"A son, for a son," Mom says.

Silence.

She cuts Spiders chest. Gasps fill the space.

The sounds of pleas fill the air as I stare at my mom, speechless. Hatred filling her eyes as she glares at Spider.

"I cut," she warns again.

She raises the knife toward Spider.

"No! No!" Quaritch yells, releasing Kiri.

I grab Kiri as she stumbles.

Mom doesn't let go of Spider.

"Mom..." I whisper, stepping closer.

"You really gonna kill a kid, Mrs. Sully?" Quaritch asks.

"Mom.” Kiri says, and Mom hisses at us. We stumble back into dad’s arms, he puts his arms around us as if to protect us from our own mom.

The sound makes me stop.

"A son, for a son," she repeats.

Dad steps in, pulling her back, whispering fast mom’s face slowly morphing from anger to regret, slowly she lets him take the knife.

"Go. Go!" Dad tells Spider.

Mom stares at Quaritch. "You still owe me a death."

"Mama!" Tuk cries, pulling her arm. I pull her other arm toward the water and away from dad and Quaritch. She doesn’t react to us as she allows us to control her.

Quaritch's voice follows us. "I'm coming for you. And when I do, I'll kill your whole family."

We're already in the water when Dad charges him.

The explosion comes again.

"Back to the ship!" Spider yells.

Mom grabs Tuk's and I’s hands. "Stay close."

The ship tilts as we run, water rushes. Tuk screams as suction pulls her toward the opening.

"Mom! Don't let go!" I scream.

Tuk is dragged in. Mom dives after her, tearing her hand from mine.

“Mom!” I yell, lunging toward the suction hole, not willing to leave her and Tuk.

Spider yanks me away from the hole as Kiri grabs my hand. We run as the ship tilts more and more, crates sliding past us.

"Kiri!" I slip and she grabs my hand, hauling me up.

"We're rolling over!" Spider yells.

We ran as the ship fully rolled over, now with us being on the bottom of the ship, yet the top of the water.

"Don't stop, go go!" Spider motioned for me to keep running.

"I'm trying!"

"This way! This way!"

We ran until we reached the only place not fully submerged in the water.

"What do we do now!" I asked panicked looking at Kiri for answers scared.

"Stay together okay?" Kiri grabbed a hold of my hand,

"Y/n, together." I just nodded as she held onto Spiders hand.

The water swallows us.

We get pulled apart.

I break the surface, choking.

"Y/n!" Kiri and Spider shout.

Then I see Mom, Kiri, and Tuk coming out.

We swim up together.

I cough and gasp.

"Ma'Jake!"

"Dad!"

We're all holding onto Payakan's wing. My fingers hurt from how hard I'm gripping him. Everyone is breathing loud. The water keeps sloshing against us. The fire from the ship makes shadows move across everyone's faces.

For a few seconds... nobody says anything.

The waves rock us slowly.

Kiri is coughing next to me. Tuk is shaking so bad her teeth are clicking together. Mom is breathing fast and can't slow down. Dad is staring at the water, looking for something inside it.

I swallow.

My chest feels strange.

Heavy.

Too quiet.

Then, without meaning to, I start looking around.

Lo'ak is here. Spider is here. Kiri is here. Tuk is here. Mom. Dad.

I look again.

Slower this time.

I check every face. I look behind Payakan's fin. I lean forward a little. Maybe he's just hiding for a second.

My heart starts to beat faster.

Neteyam always stays by dad.

Always. Every time. He never leaves his side.

But he's not here.

I frown.

Maybe he's still in the water. Maybe he's just the last one to come up. He always waits to make sure everyone else is safe.

So I wait.

The water moves a little.

Nothing happens.

My throat starts to feel tight.

I tug on dad's arm, not hard, just a little. "Dad...?" My voice tiny. "Where's Neteyam?"

He doesn't look at me.

He doesn't answer.

Mom's body goes stiff.

Kiri looks around too, her eyes darting toward dad and mom, she opens up her mouth to say something but puts her head down on Payakans wing. Soft cries leaving her.

Tuk leans onto mom as tears stream down her face.

Lo'ak's face changes.

And that's when my stomach drops. Not at once, but slowly.

"Y/n..." Dad starts to say.

"Where is he?" I ask again. Louder. My voice shaking. "He's supposed to be here."

Nobody answers.

My hands start to shake, and I don't know why.

I look at Spider. "Where's my brother?" He just shakes his head and looks away.

I look at Lo'ak. "Did he go the other way?" His eyes get shiny with tears.

That's when my chest starts to really hurt.

"No." I whisper shaking my head. "He's probably just late. He's helping someone. He always helps."

Dad finally turns to look at me.

I don't even hear what he says,

Because I see his face.

And I just know.

Mom's face looks empty. Something is missing from it.

The sounds of the waves quietens down.

I shake my head really fast. "No. No, that's not true. He was on the ship. I saw him, he was there." My words start to come out messy, I look at Tuk, "He was there right?"

Dad suddenly pulls me into a hug.

It's too tight.

Too sudden.

I start pushing against him. "No, let me go! I have to go find him."

He doesn't let go.

"Where is he?" I cry into his chest. "Where's Neteyam?"

Nobody answers.

That's my answer.

[previous] [next part]

YESS WE'RE DONE FOR NOWWWWW YESS IM GETTING A SEW IN DONE SOOON YESSSSSSS YESSSSSS ANGST IS COME UP SORRY FOR NOT POSTING BLAHBLAH IDC or yahhh sorry for like cloffhanger im milking this series this chapter is soooo long

Taglist: