Seeking Refuge | Neteyam

Chapter Three

2 Weeks Later...

I flew above the train wreck with Neteyam and Lo'ak, watching as everyone worked with swift movements. It was my first mission since my parents' deaths.

I took about a month off, but I was back now. I was ready.

"Ayn'at," Neteyam called, my ears twitching as my head perked up. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

"Bro!" Lo'ak shouted, flying closer to us. "We have got to get down there!"

"No way!" Neteyam shook his head. "Dad will skin us!"

"We're Spotters, Lo'ak! We're supposed to be looking out," I urged the boy. 

But he gave us a confident smirk and flew down. "Don't be a wuss!"

"Lo'ak! Get back here, you-" Neteyam groaned, giving me a quick glance before going after his younger brother.

"Agh, you stupid skxawng," I muttered, before following Neteyam.

We landed near Norm Spellman as he instructed people to leave with the weapons. Lo'ak landed before us, his childlike excitement radiating off him as he ran off. "Bro, come on! Let's go!"

Neteyam and I both called after the boy, running after him. He picked up a gun and gave out a battlecry, getting scoff from me.

Neteyam took it out of his hands, glaring at the boy. "You don't even know how to use it."

Lo'ak snatched it back, shaking his head as he loaded the gun. "Dad, taught me."

"You're gonna get somebody killed," I scolded the boy, pushing the nozzle of the gun towards the ground.

"Gunship's in bound! Fall back!" Jake ordered through our radios.

I shared a frightened glance with Neteyam. With widened eyes, the boy grabbed mine and Lo'ak's hands and pulled us towards our Ikrans. My heart raced as I moved my legs, getting flashbacks from my last mission.

"Let's go! Hurry!" Neteyam shouted, letting go of our hands as we ran on our own.

Suddenly, I felt my feet give out beneath me as I flew into the air. My mind was spinning as I hit the ground, the hard dirt no doubt marking my skin. I felt bruises already begin to form as I sat up. My eyes squinted as I coughed, looking through the big dust cloud around us.

"Neteyam! Lo'ak!" I called. I scrambled to my feet, running around the wreckage. Lo'ak suddenly appeared in front of me, the boy standing as if he were a statue. I grabbed his shoulder, "Lo'ak! Are you okay? Where's Neteyam?"

"I... don't know," he stammered, as if in a daze.

When I didn't know it could, my heart sped up even more. "Go find your dad!" I felt myself begin to panic as my body moved on its own, staggering through the flames and broken ground. "Neteyam! Where are you?" As I made my way down a slope, my eyes landed on a blue body laying on the ground. "No," I whimpered, tears threatening to leave my eyes. I rushed over to him and pushed him to lay on his back. "No, no, no. Not again, not again."

He groaned, looking into my eyes. "I'm fine, Ayn'at."

"Neteyam!" Another voice shouted, Jake appearing right beside us. He took a look at his boy before turning his gaze to me, laying a hand on my cheek and examining my face. "Ayn'at, are you okay?"

My lip quivering, I quickly nodded my head. "I'm okay." I pointed at Neteyam, "He's not."

Jake picked his son up, looking at his back before looking into his eyes. "What are you doing here, boy?" he scolded him, his voice frantic. He threw him over his shoulder before turning to me, "Come on, Ayn'at. Let's go."