Avatar: The Eyes of Eywa

4. Ocean

The next day, Ney'ite was dragged back to the beach with the rest of the Sully kids. Three Metkayina people were there, two boys and a girl that was smiling at her.

"I'm Tsireya." The girl greeted when Ney'ite approached.

The taller boy nodded. "Aonung."

"I'm Rotxo." The other said.

Ney'ite smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Ney'ite."

"So what brings you here?" Aonung asked, smirking strangely as if he was mocking her.

"She's here with us." Neteyam stated, looking annoyed.

Aonung and Rotxo laughed. "Okay. I was only wondering why we have to teach another forest Na'vi about the ocean."

"Aonung!" Tsireya scolded. "Don't be rude!"

Neteyam's brow furrowed. "You won't have to teach another. I'll show her."

Kiri frowned. "Are you sure Neteyam?"

"Yeah it's fine. You guys can do your own thing. I will find an ilu for Ney'ite."

Tsireya nodded, Lo'ak glanced at his brother. "Neteyam it's okay I'm sure they'll teach her too."

Aonung rolled his eyes.

Neteyam patted Lo'ak's shoulder, smiling. "I said it's fine baby bro. Have fun."

Lo'ak shrugged him off, smiling anyway as he left with the others.

"I didn't realise I'd be such an inconvenience." Ney'ite mumbled, rubbing her arm.

"You're not to me." Neteyam smiled at her, nudging her with his elbow so she'd look up.

Ney'ite felt her heart beat a little faster, she glanced away. "Tsireya seems nice."

"She is. Aonung's her brother, he doesn't give great first impressions but he's nice when you get to know him. I thought it'd be easier if you didn't have to spend your first day with him and his friends though."

Ney'ite glanced at the ocean before them, admiring its beauty. "So...can we start?"

"Of course," Neteyam beckoned to her with his hand, "let's go to the dock and jump in."

Ney'ite's face lit up, she followed him to the wooden dock and stood on the edge, looking down into the water below.

Neteyam jumped in immediately, splashing water up her legs. Ney'ite laughed, backing up from the edge.

When Neteyam emerged he stuck his head out of the water. "Come on!"

"Okay!" Ney'ite did a little run up and jumped into the water, submerging her body.

She slowly opened her eyes under the water, marvelling at the sight around her. Fish flitted through the water gracefully, the ocean bed was covered in beautiful corals of all colours and shapes, the sunlight shone down through the sea and left pretty patterns of light on her skin. Ney'ite slowly moved her feet beneath her, lifting her arms to tread water.

Neteyam swam in front of her, smiling expressively. He reached for her hand and gently pulled her up, kicking his feet to get them to the surface.

They broke out into the air again and Ney'ite tread water, she was okay at swimming because she had learnt in some of the rivers and lakes in the forest, but it wasn't one of her strong points.

Ney'ite released an elated laugh. "It's so beautiful."

He grinned, his eyes lighting up as he saw her smile. "It is. Now, we need to get out to deeper water to get you your own ilu."

"How do we do that?"

Neteyam made a clicking noise with his mouth, and an ilu came swimming through the water towards them. "We'll take mine."

He made the bond with his ilu and offered out his hand to Ney'ite.

She took it tentatively and he pulled her on behind him.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Neteyam reached back for her hand and placed it on his side. "Don't fall off, and hold your breath."

The ilu dove under water before Ney'ite could reply, and she grabbed Neteyam, ducking her head behind him to block the rush of water.

She opened her eyes slowly, looking around her at the fish and corals surrounding them. They were going out into deeper water, but it was still just as beautiful, just as enchanting.

Neteyam steered his ilu through an arch made of rock so they had to lean to the side slightly. Ney'ite smiled, pressing her cheek against his shoulder and holding him tighter.

They soon reached a stop and climbed off of the ilu, suspended in the water.

Ney'ite looked down at her feet, so far from the sea bed. She then started kicking back up to the surface, gasping for air when she broke out of the water.

Neteyam surfaced in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Ney'ite shook her head. "I can't hold my breath for very long."

"That's okay," He smiled reassuringly, "you can learn to hold it for longer. And you can learn the sign language the Metkayina use to communicate underwater."

Ney'ite released an overwhelmed laugh. "There's so much to learn."

Neteyam shrugged. "You'll be okay."

He then suddenly pointed at something underwater, ducking below. Ney'ite copied, following his line of vision to an ilu that was swimming towards them.

Neteyam gestured to the ilu, indicating Ney'ite should bond with it.

She made the same clicking sounds as she did with her ikran, and the ilu swam closer, curious.

Ney'ite held out her palm, gently pressing it against the ilu's head. She reached for her plait behind her back and connected it to the ilu, taking a second to get used to the new bond.

It felt different to the animals she'd bonded with before, she nearly let out all the air she was holding because of it. The ilu squirmed underwater, trying to disconnect from her. But slowly, she made her way onto the ilu's back, closing her eyes and establishing the connection.

Swim.

The ilu shot forward and Ney'ite grabbed hold, bending her legs into a better position to ground her feet and ducking her head to prevent the force of water from throwing her off. She held on tight and didn't resist, so the ilu started to calm down.

When she'd first bonded with her ikran, it was very difficult. Ingo had a defiant spirit and she was strong, only making her a better companion. But Ney'ite had been just as stubborn as the ikran with trying to tame her and she succeeded.

The same method seemed to apply to this ilu.

When she'd gained control, she swam the ilu back to where Neteyam was and let go, smiling brightly at him.

He returned the smile, pointing up to the surface to get air. She nodded, already feeling her chest tighten from the lack of oxygen.

"That was great!" Neteyam exclaimed when they broke the surface.

"It's fun!"

"You did really well," Neteyam glanced off as if remembering something, "You should've seen Lo'ak's first attempt. Let's take your ilu back and get her saddled up."