Blood and Water | Neteyam

Cave of Tears ∼ 12

Tcelia realized that her hand was still placed on Neteyam's chest and underneath it, his heart was beating rapidly. She snatched her hand away, playing it off by nudging Lo'ak and telling him to focus. Lo'ak fumed for the rest of the breathing session.

...

"Tuk, slow down," Tcelia yelled after the small girl who was hurrying ahead of her on the pathway.

Tuk let out an exasperated sound then doubled back and grabbed Tcelia's hand, dragging her along, "Come on, hurry!"

The second Tcelia and the two brothers had stepped into the pod after spending the day with Tsireya, Tuk had jumped up and been very eager to show Tcelia what Rotxo had shown her that day. As she had been dragged out of the pod, Tcelia had tried to grab Lo'ak's hand and bring him with them but Lo'ak was still mad at her for the whole 'sorry' incidence and had moved away, looking after her with a 'karma is a bitch' grin. A chuckling Neteyam had begun making his way after them but had been stopped midway by Neytiri who wanted his help with something. He had shot Tcelia an apologetic shrug as he had agreed to help his mother.

"How far away are we going, Tuk?" Tuk had dragged her onto the beach as the sun had disappeared behind one of the planets, bringing forth the bioluminescent of the world. The younger girl shot Tcelia a toothy grin as she let go of her hand and began wading into the water. Tcelia sighed and looked around, then followed after Tuk.

"Look," Tuk exclaimed when Tcelia had joined her. They were treading water as Tcelia looked around, trying to spot what Tuk wanted her to see. Tuk was pointing under the water, "Follow me!" she explained then took a deep breath and dove under the small waves.

Before Tcelia followed Tuk, she spotted Neteyam on the beach. She shouted his name, getting his attention, hoping he'd follow them, then dove under the water in the search for Tuk. She was about five meters under the water and going strong.

As Tuk swam towards a large, green coral, she glanced back to check if Tcelia was following her. When she was assured that Tcelia was on her heels, she sped up and dove under the coral. They made their way under the it, fish and other creatures swimming around them.

The bioluminescent coral was making it possible for the girls to see where they were going and Tcelia marveled at the fact that Jake had survived for twenty-two years, on a planet that didn't harbor any bioluminescent matters.

Finally, Tuk came to a stop and turned to smile at Tcelia. She gestured for Tcelia to look up. Over them was a small air pocket that Tcelia suspected could hold up to two of three Na'vis. Tcelia grabbed the sides of the hole and floated upwards. As she broke the surface she heaved in a long breath, Tuk following right behind her.

"Tuk, how did you find this place?" Tcelia whispered in wonder. Inside the small air pocket, the entire night sky seemed to shine above them. The bioluminescent spots on the coral's walls formed constellations by the thousandfold, and above them hung small stalactites that each contained wondrous shining gemstones.

"Rotxo showed it to me and Kiri," Tuk smiled beside her, obviously very pleased that she had been shown the cave.

Tcelia looked at Tuk, smiling from ear to ear and was about to tell her something, but she forgot it the second she had opened her mouth. Hundreds of tiny, softly bioluminescent fish had appeared from seemingly nowhere and were now making their way around them. Tuk let out a gasp as they looked around in wonder at the fish who were circling the two girls.

"They are beautiful," breathed Tcelia. Slowly, the fish ebbed away, swimming away in different directions. The two girls were completely quiet. They both felt like they had just witnessed something very pure and spectacular, and they were both afraid of speaking up and breaking the spell.

Suddenly someone broke the surface of the water, disturbing the peace and both girls let out shrieks of surprise. Neteyam sucked in a breath and raised his hands, "Sorry, sorry, it is just me," he exclaimed as both girls splashed water at him.

Tcelia and Tuk looked at each other then threw their heads back, laughter echoing throughout the small cave.

"You scared us!" Tuk accused as she grabbed a hold of one of Neteyam's shoulders, steadying herself in the water. Neteyam let out a chuckle as he apologized to Tuk.

Tcelia was still riding the high of the joy the fish had brought, a huge smile plastered across her face. She beamed at Neteyam, "Did you see them?" she questioned, "Did you see the fish? Weren't they beautiful?"

Neteyam's eyes met hers as he nodded. He reached out to move a braid away from Tcelia's face that had fallen across her eyes. He stroked it behind her ear, "Very beautiful," he smiled.

Tcelia felt giddy inside. She was glad that Neteyam had gotten to witness the small fish but then she remembered Lo'ak and Kiri who had missed out. Poor Kiri, she would have loved it even more than Tcelia had.

Neteyam looked around the air pocket, mirroring the girls' wonderous expression they had been wearing not long ago. "What is this place?" he asked Tuk.

Tuk shrugged, "Rotxo said it was called 'The Cave of Tears', but he did not tell us why," she yawned and rubbed at her eye. Neteyam and Tcelia looked at each other, silently communicating that it was time for them to head back so that Tuk could get to bed. Neteyam held on to Tuk as he dove under, leaving the air pocket behind. Tcelia looked around the cave in wonder one last time before making her way after the two siblings.

As they swam underneath the coral, Tcelia looked around at the ocean floor. Even here it was overflowing with life. Creatures swam around and through corals and smaller animals lounged around in the white sand.

Something glinting caught Tcelia's eye, and she grabbed at a coral to bring herself further down to investigate. It hadn't been the normal bioluminescent light, but rather something that the light bounced off of.

Sure enough, a small, black stone lay wedged between a coral and the seabed. She reached her hand down and picked up the stone, bringing it closer to her eyes so that her bioluminescent dots could illuminate it.

On closer inspection she realized that it wasn't a stone she had picked up, but a pearl. She had never seen a black pearl before, only the white and cream ones that were braided into some of the Metkayina's hair and jewelry.

She closed her fingers around it and made her way out from under the massive coral. She had been holding her breath for a while now and she was starting to feel the lack of oxygen. She could see Neteyam and Tuk treading water above her, probably waiting for her and she hurriedly kicked towards the surface, desperate for air.

Suddenly she felt a hand grabbing her leg and yanking her down, and Tcelia felt her entire body shudder from the shock of it. She looked down, ready to kick the hand away and saw Ao'nung, a challenging smirk on his face as he looked up at her, his long fingers wrapped around her ankle. And he wasn't letting go.