•~Not the only misfit~•

Chapter 1: Unannounced guests

"- - Taka'ri, wa - - p"

"What?" I groaned while rubbing my eyes. I could feel someone shaking me awake.

"Come on Taka'ri, wake up," a girl whispered, as my eyes adjusted to the dim light the sunrise was providing.

"Tsireya? What are you doing? The sun is barely even up," I complained, while pulling the sheets over my shoulders.

"Come! Aonung said he had something to show us. Apparently he discovered this little cave just outside the reef with the biggest selection of fish he'd ever seen. Just imagine how proud my dad would be if he wakes up to a huge pile of freshly-caught fish," Tsireya bargained while ripping the sheets from my weak morning-grip.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" I smiled ironically.

Tsireya smirked and nodded her head smugly.

"Alright then, be a dear and grab me my bow then," I demanded while having a nice stretch.

I then got up, packed my arrows and swung both my bow and arrows onto my back.

"This better be worth it," I smirked as Tsireya led me to Aonung.

•~•

"Took you long enough," joked Aonung. Roxto was standing next to him looking just about as worn out as me.

"These assholes wake you up as well?" I asked, nodding towards Aonung and Tsireya.

"Yep," replied Roxto dryly, with both his eyes barely open. It was quite hilarious to see.

I couldn't really blame him though, I was barely able to stay awake myself.

"Don't be such slouches," chuckled Tsireya. As she entered the water, she called for her Ilu. We all joined her.

As my Ilu swam up to me, I slid my hand across his body. I grabbed my braid and gently connected it to my Ilu. I did a little circle around my friends to wake myself up and stopped next to Aonung.

"So, take us to that fish utopia your sister told me all about," I tell him.

"Okay, follow me everyone," he says, diving into the water.

The ride was a bit longer than I'd expected but I didn't really mind. It was always fun to ride with friends.

The sun was already up when Aonung finally stopped above the surface of the water.

"It's just down here," he said, taking a deep breath and submerging himself into the crystal clear sea. We all followed him.

When I entered the cave, I was shocked.

To be completely honest, I was half expecting this to be false, an exaggeration to get me to join them but I was mistaken. This cave was packed with thousand of different fish: blue, green, purple... heck, even multicoloured. It was a quite spectacular.

You like it? signed Aonung, before aiming his crossbow at the fishes. Roxto shook his head in astonishment and did the same.

This is amazing! answered Tsireya excitedly. She had a huge smile plastered on her face, but then again, that smile never really seemed to fade.

Yeah, you really exceeded my expectations, I sign, before taking out my bow and arrow.

It was a stubborn thing really, but I refused to use a crossbow when hunting. There wasn't really a reason behind it, I just felt more comfortable with a bow.

After a few shots each, the fish had cleared out, and we were left with at least 12 fish each to grab and take home. We had really hit jackpot.

•~•

As we were arriving towards the shore, we heard some sort of battle cry coming from the skies. We all looked up to see 5 huge bird-like creatures soaring above our heads.

"There are Na'vi on the back of them, look!" exclaimed Roxto, pointing eagerly at the creatures.

"What even are those anyway?" I wondered.

"Those are ikran," stated Tsireya, "they come from the forest."

"The forest?!" I blurted out, a lot louder than I intended.

"They seem to be heading for our village," said Aonung.

"Well let's pick up the pace then!" I shouted, eager to meet them.

Forest people?! Here?! It was bloody insane! I never thought I'd get the chance to meet them but here I was, racing back to shore, excited to see where I came from!

Then suddenly something hit me. What if it was my father? What if he came back for me, or to drop some other poor soul onto the Metkayina's lap? No. I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let that happen. If it was my father, that son of a bitch was not leaving here without giving me the answers I deserved.

"They're a little odd" mumbled Aonung, as we approached the shore. He and Roxto got off their Ilu and made their way through the crowd to get a closer look.

I let my Ilu go, but I couldn't bring myself to get out of the water. Tsireya noticed this and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asks me worriedly.

I took a deep breath.

"What if it's my father? I...I'm just not sure if I'm ready to face him yet," I muttered, avoiding eye contact. I never really enjoyed talking about my father and tended to avoid these type of discussions entirely.

"You don't have to come if you're not ready Taka'ri, I can wait with you for as long as you want," Tsireya reassured me, flashing me one of her sweet smiles. Oddly enough, that smile gave me the push I needed.

"Nah, I think I'm good. If it does end up being him, it would be a relief to finally be able to kick his skxawng ass," I chuckled

"That's the spirit," said Tsireya, giving me a light punch on the shoulder.

"Ouch!" I joked as I walked out of the water.

Well this was it, guess I was about to meet these unannounced guests.