𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐒; neteyam

CHAPTER SEVEN

SEVEN

"You're facing down a dark hall. I'll grab my light, and go with you."
-my blood, twenty one pilots

NAMAOYI FELT LIKE she couldn't breathe. Her parents deaths being confirmed, it being at the hands of the sky-people and an outcast of a Tulkun. Her younger self being there, watching them sink to the ground, played on repeat in her head as she stumbled through the village. Their lifeless eyes, limp limbs and greying skin. It felt all too real for her to comprehend.

She walked into the hut - a mixture of pacing and storming - as she called out Jakes name. She faced the center of the room as she passed through the doorway, staring at the man standing in the middle of the room.

"Namaoyi?" He questioned worriedly as he took a tentative step forward, hand raised upon seeing her tear-stained face. He'd never seen eyes so . . . indescribable. 

They held anger in them, a flame one couldn't hold back. And yet, there was a small glimpse of a solemn spark igniting behind that blossoming fire, holding the sadness her heart was burdened with. Jake only wished he could unsee it.

"I want to kill them," Namaoyi cried, accent thick. "I want to kill them all and watch them die."

Jake furrowed his brows, she was talking so expressionless yet emotively he couldn't decide whether she meant it or not.

The two were broken from their thoughts when they heard a gasp. Namaoyis eyes blew wide, her neck craning to the side. Neytiri and Tuk were sitting on the floor by the door, watching the girl with sadness and fright.

She chocked back a sob. "No, no . . ." she turned for the door, hurrying out while ignoring the frequent sound of Jake shouting her name into the warm air. She moved to turn left, but stopped and began frantically stepping backward once facing a concerned Lo'ak and Kiri.

She whipped around again, about to break into a run, before Neteyam appeared, head tilted to the side as he surveyed her crying face. "No, stop it- no." She shook her head, tears streaming down her flaming cheeks. She moved to walk past the boy, but he stepped in front of her path with his hands on either side of her shoulder. 

"Mao, what is wrong?" She stared at him, eyes cracking heart. One hole. After a few seconds, a few beats of her breaking heart, she gave up. She threw her arms around him, letting herself cry in his strong, safety of a grip. She felt the rest of the Sullys crowd around her, nobody else around.

Neteyam looked over her shoulder, eyeing his family dangerously. "Who said something? What did you do?"

Jake ignored him, walking closer to press a hand to her shoulder. "Nam, can you tell us what happened?"

"They told me . . . Tonowari and Ronal told me- they said they died with the Tulkuns," she hiccupped, hands tightening around Neteyams shoulders as she pushed her head even further into the crevice of his neck. 

"Who died?" Neteyam asked with furrowed brows, softly peeling Namaoyi away from his chest to look her in the eyes. He pushed a loose strand of her dark, flowing hair like her tears back and tucked it behind her flat ear. "You can tell us . . . me."

"What is a Tulkun?" Lo'ak asked, looking between his parents and the crying girl. Kiri pushed him by the shoulder, him letting out a scoff of disbelief as he gripped onto the woven railing behind him for stability.

"The whale hunters, they came for the Tulkuns and killed Ma and Pa- they died because of them!" She span away from Neteyams grip, turning around to face Jake with a finger pointed towards him. Neytiri looked at her sadly from beside the man. "Your old friends killed them, they died- the humans killed th-them." She pressed her hands against his chest to push him back, but she immediately widened her eyes, more tears falling from her eyes.

"Woah, woah!" He shouted as he stumbled back, looking at her calmly yet stricken as he held his hands out. Her ears flattened against her head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't- I know you are not them. That is not what I mean, I just- I am so angry." Jake nodded at her, stepping closer again to assure her he hadn't taken it to heart. She turned in her spot, facing Neteyam once more. Her arms fell limp by her sides as she looked desperately, hopelessly, into his eyes. "I want to watch them die."

He widened his eyes, puffing out his cheeks as his eyes fell to the ground for a second, the shortest second of the year, before he stepped towards her. "I understand you, Mao. I do, I do. But we know, you know, that it is not a good idea."

She let out a sigh as she nodded, head falling once again. Neytiri walked forward to pull her into a hug, head resting on hers as she sucked in a breath. "All will be okay, Namaoyi. The anger will subside, I know how you feel. I want to kill them too," she said calmly, her hand running up and down her back. 

As Kiri, Tuk and Lo'ak formed a circle around the girl and calmed her down to an extent, Jake pulled Neteyam to the side. "Take her for a walk, son. I'm gonna go talk to Tonowari and Ronal, see what I can do. Just, try to make her happy, alright?" He told him, one hand on his shoulder. The boy nodded, so they parted ways, and Neteyam took her away.

"Where are we going?" Namaoyi asked, head ducked down as she wiped away her tears. 

Neteyam laughed. "I don't know, it is a surprise," he said, wiggling his brows mysteriously. She looked up, eyes wide, as she let out a quiet laugh. She was half-way better. "So," the boy began, looking down at their hands before intertwining them. "You're better swimmers than us."

She smiled, swinging their hands slightly as they strayed from the handmade paths. "I am. But it is what I was born to do," she argued, looking at him before her eyes flicked towards where they were walking. "Neteyam, we are going inland."

He looked down at her with a mischievous grin. "I know. We are going to do what I was born to do, and what you learnt to do," he smiled as he approached the large tree roots separating the sandy beach from the rest of the mainland. She slowed down, looking between him and the trees hesitantly. "Oh, come on. You're not backing down from a challenge, are you?"

He held his other hand out, waiting for her to take it with wide eyes. She stared at it for a few seconds before she gave in, letting a smile creep onto her once red face. "Never." Neteyam laughed, pulling her towards the roots before they started to climb.

They ventured up and through, jumping between wooden branches and bushes as they waited for each other behind roots and leaves. They laughed and cheered as they ran across logs and swung from the vines, feeling as if they'd never left the forest of Pandora at all. It was then, during that fun-filled span of time, that they both realised - home wasn't where they were, it was who they were with.