nìsoaia - a Neteyam story

prologue

There were now no wounds on his chest, no blood on his stomach, no sky people in the Pandora air.

What he couldn't see, couldn't hurt him.

It was quiet. Just a whistling of the wind in his ears and on his limbs. Was he turning, he had no idea. For, now he felt somewhat peaceful.

If this was death, then he'd embrace it and join Eywa. He had fought mighty. Had made his ancestors proud. And with Toruk Macto as partner to his efforts.

That was something the ancestors would remember him by. The strong and mighty Tsu'tey  te Rongloa Ateyitan had fought to his death alongside the great Toruk Macto. Protector of the Omatikaya people, saviour of souls.

The thought alone made the warrior smile through the pain as he plummeted towards the ground.

Through the whistling in his ears, he could make out the sound of Toruk Macto's voice calling out to him through the comm network.

"Tsu'tey! Brother, do you read?" The voice of Jake Sully felt like a whisper to his ears; the sound being lost in the air as he hurtled towards the ground beneath him.

Even if he tried to reach up to his neck, to find the comm on his skin, his voice would not do him justice in responding to the man.

For, he was low on energy, on life, and whatever he had left in him, he wanted to hold onto, just in case.

He had hopes that once his body found the floor, the Omatikaya people on ground assault would find him, protect him until the great Toruk Macto reached him, and he could pass through Eywa and join the ancestors.

To live long enough to see Toruk Macto at the end, his last shadow, was now his only battle.

The great warrior now fought with death itself, with Eywa, with life.

And as his body fell hundreds of feet, hurtling towards the ground below, he suddenly thought of family.

His brother, riding an Ikran with the air assault, with no knowledge that his brother was on the brink of death if the fall didn't kill him.

His mother, aiding the Tsahik in healing the wounded, and retrieving the bodies of the dead. Who would soon be retrieving his own, cold form.

His father, fighting alongside his brother, protecting the skies and battling for their home. Completely unaware that his eldest son was now out of action.

And Marali.

The only woman he had loved since Sylwanin, his beloved, older sister to Neytiri, to whom he was betrothed to after her passing.

As he fell through the trees, his body turning with every leaf he landed on, his heart filled with longing. For, Marali had no idea she was about to lose her love, or that they would ever see each other again.

Tsu'tey's body slams into a lead before he rolls to the floor, his back landing on the grass with a loud thud, knocking the air from his already dying lungs.

He lets out a cry of pain, instinctively turning onto his side to cover his wounds, trying with all his might to suppress the ever lasting blood flow protruding from the holes in his chest.