the delicate balance (of me and you) | tsireya x y/n

Loss (chapter seventeen)

notes: if any of you guys are fans of outer banks, go check out @nicolak23 bc she's writing an outer banks fanfic :) also tysm to my friends who have been my biggest supporters, @niamh8210 my biggest fan, and my friend mae who always supports me even tho shes scared to read this bc there could be smut 💀 and tysm for 8k reads i love you all!

You hang your head, groaning. It feels like you've been stuck cuffed to the ship for hours, although you know it's probably only been ten-ish minutes. Lo'ak's struggling against the bar, and he's made a reasonable dent, but you know it won't break. Screams are surrounding you as people fight, completely ignoring all of you. As you lower your head, you stare at the water, and frown as you spot movement. Something big swims under the ship. You lean over, and say, 'did you guys see that?' Everyone shakes their head. You shrug. And then Payakan launches out of the water, landing square on the ship and crushing half of the people on it. You whoop, and Lo'ak shouts happily, 'brother!' as he kicks a soldier towards Payakan. Payakan quickly dispatches the soldier with a sweep of his fin. 

Gunshots ring out as soldiers start firing on Payakan. You look over worriedly, but none of them penetrate him, only bouncing off of his armoured skin. He opens his mouth wide, roaring, and you hear someone yell, 'fire!' And you see an explosive harpoon fly towards his mouth. You turn in shock, and your mouth drops open as Payakan slams his jaw closed, deflecting the harpoon. It bounces off harmlessly and explodes part of the ship. You whoop and scream as Payakan slithers off the boat, completely unharmed. 'Yes, bro!' Lo'ak yells, and you're happy until you remember you're still cuffed to the rail. You sigh. 'Can someone come rescue us, please?'

And then you scream as you're lifted off the ground as the ship starts to move forward and up. 'What the fuck?' you yell. 'Why is so much stuff happening?' You're all slammed against the ground, hard, as the ship hits rock. You groan, knowing you're going to be bruised and battered after this. 'This is war,' Lo'ak says grimly. 'Get used to it.' 'How's everyone doing?' you hear from behind you, and look up to see Neteyam. He grins, cutting your cuffs, and moves down the line, freeing everyone. You lean over to share a quick kiss with Tsireya, but your hand lingers on her face and you can't tear yourself away from her. She puts her hand over yours, and you know she feels the same. 'Enough of that,' Neteyam says sharply, covering Tuk's eyes. 'Let's just get to safety first. Get Tuk out of here,' he says to Tsireya, and she nods, dragging Tuk (who's clinging onto her) off the ship. You hesitate, not knowing whether to follow her or not. Lo'ak picks up a large gun from one of the dead soldiers, and cocks it, grinning. 'Bro, we have to rescue Spider,' he says, and you realise he means the human boy. Neteyam hesitates. 'We can't leave him,' he says to Neteyam pleadingly. Neteyam sighs. 'Fine,' he murmurs. 'I'm coming,' you say quickly. Neteyam nods, and you all head inside the ship.

* * *

The three of you sit on top of metal scaffolding, balancing carefully. You watch as some avatars walk underneath you with spider, one of the avatars saying, 'make sure your mask is tight.' 'I'm good, dumbass,' scoffs Spider, and at Neteyam's sign, you drop down, yelling and tackling one of the avatars. Lo'ak falls beside you, along with Neteyam. You grimace as you try to wrestle the gun out of the avatar's hands, and roll aside as it goes off. Then a gun goes off from behind you, the bullets flying past you and killing the avatar instantly. You turn to see Lo'ak holding a large gun. 'Thanks,' you say, and he grins and whoops. 'Let's go,' Neteyam says hurriedly, and you nod. 'Who's this?' asks Spider. 'This is y/n. You've missed a lot, bro,' says Lo'ak, laughing. He's not laughing a few seconds later when bullets ring out in your direction. 'Shit,' you shout, and Neteyam frowns. 'Give me that,' he says, snatching Lo'ak's gun. 'Now, go, go, go!' he yells as he shoots around the corner at the avatars shooting at you. You hesitate, looking back at Neteyam, but he shoves you forwards, so you follow Lo'ak and Spider, jumping into the water from the middle deck. 

As soon as you come up for air, you hear a splash as Neteyam jumps into the water, and sigh with relief. Spider whoops and high fives Lo'ak. 'We did it, bro!' Lo'ak yells. And then you hear Neteyam cough, and turn to see him struggling to stay afloat. All he says is, 'I'm shot.' You see Lo'ak's expression switch, and he calls his ilu, muttering, 'shit.' You swim over to Neteyam, keeping his head out of the water. 'Neteyam,' you whisper as you see where the wound is. His chest. Then Lo'ak grabs him off of you, carefully putting him on the ilu. And then you're all crowded on Lo'ak's ilu, trying to get Neteyam to safety. He coughs again, and looks up at Lo'ak as he clutches his chest. He's dying, you realise, your chest aching as your tears start to fall.

* * *

'Shit,' Jake swears as he sees Neteyam. He pulls him off the ilu unceremoniously, heaving him onto the rock. He flips Neteyam up, checking his back. His face drops as he sees the exit wound, and he lays Neteyam back, pressing his hands against the bullet wound on his chest harder. 'My Neteyam,' Neytiri murmurs as she leans over him. 'I want to go home,' he says, his voice choked as he holds back tears. 'I know. We're going home,' Jake says, holding Neteyam's face, and tears form in your eyes. You see Tsireya pull Lo'ak close, and you think, good. He needs all the support he can get. 'Dad, I -' Neteyam says, and then his eyes go glassy. And he's still. 'Neteyam,' Neytiri says. When he doesn't reply, she shakes him viciously. 'No, no, no,' she wails. 'Neteyam!' You turn away, unable to watch. Suddenly, Jake turns away, listening to his earpiece. There's obviously some sort of information coming through, but you can't hear it.

And then Jake turns to Lo'ak, his face hard. 'Lo'ak. Where are your sisters?' 'I - I don't know,' Lo'ak says, as he tries to hold in his tears. Tsireya looks at the ground as she speaks. 'They're on the ship,' she says quietly. 'The middle deck.' 'I know where that is, I can show you,' Spider babbles to Jake, who ignores him, instead turning to Neytiri. He murmurs to her, and she shakes her head, but after a minute, her face hardens as well. She's so strong, you think disbelievingly, as she stands up. 'We're going to rescue them,' Jake says grimly, grabbing Spider to guide him. Lo'ak steps forward. 'Dad, I want to go with you.' Jake looks Lo'ak up and down, his face stiff. 'You've done enough,' he says quietly, turning away.

And you watch Jake, Spider, and Neytiri walk away, leaving Lo'ak standing there. 

'Tsireya,' you say, turning to her desperately. 'Y/n,' she whispers, her face wet with tears. And you pull her in as she runs towards you, and feel the heat of her body as she presses herself against you. You loop your arms around her waist, and pull her close. You take a deep breath, and steady yourself. I've still got her. And then you pull away from her, staring into her eyes with fear. She looks at you questioningly. 

'Tsireya. I have to find my dad.'