Tacenda | Neteyam

022

Tsahik shook her head and turned away. "Disconnect your queue, it will not help any longer." There was a brief pause as she hesitantly followed the instructions, her eyes alert for any moment on Neteyam's part.

"Why?" The older woman asked. "Why mate like this? A mating that was not arranged yet it is not truly of free-will. You have tied yourself to him for eternity. Why?"

Tsa'tvayi reached down a shaking hand and caressed Neteyam's cheek softly, a single tear running down her face. "He deserves it," she answered. "He deserves to live a long and happy life even if he hates me for taking the choice away. His brother does not deserve to carry the weight of Neteyam's death," she choked out.

"Tuk does not deserve to lose a brother so young. Kiri does not deserve to see the sky people take her brother like they have taken everything else. Neytiri and Jake do not deserve to lose a son on top of their home and their families."

Tsa'tvayi dropped her hand from his face and turned to face Tsahik as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I would never have forgiven myself if I had been as selfish as to let him die because I may one day wish to mate somebody else. Even if it kills me, I will never regret what I have done."

Tsahik stared at her for a moment before letting out a small sigh and looking away. "Then I will pray that Eywa blesses you with happiness as she has blessed him with you."

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THE AKULA RUMBLED UNDER her, Tsa'tvayi clenching her jaw as they flew through the water. She had been sent out by Tsahik, informed that her presence was hindering Neteyam's rest. Tsa'tvayi hadn't complained, the girl willing to do anything to ensure his survival.

She hadn't allowed herself to stop and worry, instead getting on the akula- which she had to remember to name- and speeding off to the family that had yet to arrive. She did not know if they had found Kiri and Tuk, but they hadn't yet returned and she wouldn't be the person who told Neteyam that his family had not returned while she had sat on the sand to wait for him to wake.

That would add another item to the list of things she had done to make him hate her.

When the water was littered by the trash of the sky people, and the air smelt of blood, she slowed down and looked around. She urged the akula to approach the wooden plank that the family had been on, seeing a darker figure on it.

Approaching it slowly, Tsa'tvayi disconnected the tsaheylu and pushed herself onto the plank, a hiss pulling from her throat as she noted the man glaring at her.

"You little bitch," he snarled, Tsa'tvayi barring her teeth in his direction and dropping into a crouch. She had no idea how he had arrived there, but she would not let him leave. Not after what he had done to her.

Not after what he had done to her mate.

He moved quickly, one hand wrapping around her neck and the rearing back and punching her right in the face. Tsa'tvayi had to breathe for a second, her head hazy, before she hissed in fury as she kicked him in the stomach, the fake na'vi realizing her as he fell back with a thud.

The man hissed as he pushed himself to his feet, Tsa'tvayi driving forward in a second and tacklign him straight into the water. They landed with a loud splash, Tsa'tvayi keeping her hands on him as she let their bodies sink. He was stronger than her, faster than her, bigger than her, but he was not better in the water than her.

She would use that and he would not live, that much, she could promise herself.

He thrashing around in an attempt to escape her grip, Tsa'tvayi sneering as he managed to lift their heads above the water. He stopped to catch his breath, his shoves growing weaker, and Tsa'tvayi accepted the opportunity he offered as he threw his head back and bared his neck. Letting out a loud hiss, she reared forward and wrapped her teeth around his throat, her fangs digging in deep as his blood filled her mouth.

He tried to push her away, a loud scream escaping his lips, but she gripped tighter buffer yanking back, his throat coming with her. He let out a garbled sound as blood poured from his neck, his eyes wide and horrified as he wrapped his hands around the bleeding skin.

She briefly considered leaving him there to bleed out in the water, but refused to risk his survival. He was like a pest, crawling around and refusing to die. Tsa'tvayi gripped the short tendrils of his hair and pushed his head back under water before calling for the akula.

She felt the moment he saw the large beast, his body thrashing as she used all of her strength to keep him under. She also felt the moment the akula removed his body, the head remaining in her hands.

Pushing herself back onto the plank, the dreamwalker's head in her hands, Tsa'tvayi grinned, her blood stained teeth gleaming. Then, she called for the well-fed akula and mounted him before continuing her search for the family.

‿‿‿‿‿‿‿‿

RELIEF FILLED HER BODY as she spotted the group on another wooden plank, a larger one where Jake was pulling Lo'ak and the sky person into a hug. She let out a chirp to announce her presence and stopped the akula before diving off and pulling herself onto the plank.

"Tsa'tvayi," Neytiri sighed out and made to pull her close before freezing, the older woman's eyes running over her face and body.

Tsa'tvayi knew what she must have looked like, blood coating her lips and chin and running down her neck. There was dried blood from Neteyam and fresh blood from the man she had murdered. Yet, she could not feel any remorse.

"Tsa'tvayi," she called out again, her voice catching a concerned tilt. "Are you alright?"

She grinned in response, her bloody teeth in display, and lifted the head in her hands. "I am."

Jake let out a curse as he released the boys and stepped closer, his eyes pinned to the head in her hands. "Quaritch," he mumbled out, his eyes dazed. "You killed him?"

His voice was amazed, his eyes flickering from the head to her face- to her bloody teeth.

"He almost took my mate away from me," she grinned humorlessly, the words heavy as they left her mouth. A mate that didn't want her, a bond that shouldn't have happened. "And almost escaped. I found him on a plank, breathing as if he had the right," she hissed.

Jake startled, his eyes widening. "On a plank?" He asked, his voice low. "I left him unconscious, drowning."

From the corner of her eye, she could see the alien boy fidgeting and her eyes narrowed. Tsa'tvayi turned to him and threw the head at his feet, the boy letting out a small yelp as he stumbled back. "Has he been with you? The entire time?"

Neytiri let out a furious hiss as she turned to the boy, her eyes narrowing as she waved a knife. "You saved him?" She shrieked. "You dare save him and turn to my family for comfort? After all he has done to us?"

Tsa'tvayi remained silent as the woman screamed at the boy, Lo'ak taking a step back with a cold glare on his face. Turning to Tuk, she pressed a hand against the girl's face, the younger girl burrowing into her side as sobs shook her small body.

"Neteyam?" She asked, her voice shaky as her tears cooled Tsa'tvayi side.

"He is healing," she answered softly. "Tsahik believes he will survive."

Another sob pulled from her lips, this one filled with relief. "Thank you, Tsa'tvayi." Tuk pulled back and looked up at her with large eyes. "I am glad that Eywa gave you to us, to him. He will be happy with you."

Tsa'tvayi could only bite her tongue as she pulled the younger girl back into a hug, Kiri and Lo'ak joining them. She could only hope that Tuk was right.

Could only hope that Neteyam wouldn't despise her.