Intertwined [Neteyam x OC]

Chapter 19

Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever love
Like I'm the only one who knows your heart
Only girl in the world
Like I'm the only one that's in command
'Cause I'm the only one who understands
How to make you feel like a man, yeah
- 'Only Girl (In the World)' by Rihanna

Aliyah was helping Neytiri prepare food when they heard people shouting outside. They shared a confused glance before both peaking around the exit of the hut to see what was going on.
Jake came rushing over, grabbing his wife by her hand, "We have to go, it's bad."
Neytiri followed her husband, and Aliyah's heart jumped in fear. She went after the two adults, finding Neteyam on the way.
He furrowed his brows, "I was just coming to get you, let's go."
Aliyah let herself be pulled further by him, "What's going on, 'Tey? What happened?"
He glanced at her, taking in a deep breath but not answering her question. Instead, he pressed his lips together and squeezed her hand more tightly as he kept moving toward the water. 

The whole clan was gathered on the beach, as Jake and Neytiri followed Ronal and Tonowari on ilus toward the tulkun, who were circling around something floating motionless on the waves of the ocean. Aliyah squinted her eyes to see what exactly was hovering on the water. Her eyes went wide and she let out a gasp as she saw what happened: the motionless body belonged to a tulkun. 
Ronal approached the lifeless shell of the tulkun slowly, cries escaping her mouth as she gently placed her hand on the tulkun's head, while raising herself up on its fin.

Aliyah felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Ma'ko staring at the disturbing scene, sadness in his eyes, "Her name was Roa, she was Ronal's spirit sister..."
Aliyah let out a whimper as she felt her heart break for the Tsahik. Even though she could be a bit harsh sometimes, no one deserves to lose such a strong connection. She then noticed another tinier body floating next to Roa's. 
Aliyah was scared to ask, "Is that her calf?" Ma'ko only nodded, looking down at the sand.
Ronal breathed heavily, her voice laced with fear and disbelief as her screams could be heard all the way to the beach, "What is this, Tonowari? What is this?" 
Aliyah squeezed Neteyam's hand even tighter, feeling anxious and scared.
Neteyam placed a kiss on the side of her head, lowering his voice so that only she could hear it buzzing in her ear, "See those red floating bags around the tulkun?" Aliyah stared at the red objects, realization slowly sinking in.
She gasped quietly, her voice not louder than a whisper, "Sky people?" Neteyam locked eyes with her and nodded.

Aliyah felt panic coursing through her veins, and she felt as if she couldn't get enough air in her lungs. After trying in vain to suck in air, her vision went black. She lost her balance and stumbled, but both Neteyam and Ma'ko prevented her from crashing on the ground.
Ma'ko sounded worried, "Aliyah! Are you okay?"
Neteyam brushed a few hairs away from her face and placed a warm hand on her stomach, "Listen to my voice, Ali. Breathe slowly." Aliyah locked eyes with him, his beautiful yellow orbs bringing her peace as she followed his instructions. She soon regained control of herself, tears forming in her eyes, "Neteyam, this means my vision is true. The Sky people are back."
He placed a hand on her cheek, "Ali, you won't lose me. We'll get through this."

Ma'ko frowned, "What vision?"
Aliyah sighed, "When I connected to the Spirit Tree, I saw myself holding someone and crying." She turned to the Metkayina boy, biting her lip, "It was Neteyam. He... he was dead."
Ma'ko's eyes went wide, "Fuck." He noticed Aliyah's concerned expression, and tried to ease her mind, "It's just a vision, though. We'll all protect each other if we have to."
Aliyah breathed out slowly while her gaze shifted between Mako's blue eyes, straightening her back as a determined look appeared on her face, "Yes, we will protect each other." She locked eyes with Neteyam, "I'd rather die than let anything happen to you."

---

By now, Ronal, Tonowari, Jake and Neytiri had joined the rest of the clan, who were meeting in front of the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik's hut.
Ronal's words were filled with fury, "My spirit sister and her baby have been murdered by the Sky people!" The whole clan shouted and hissed, clearly upset by this news.
Tonowari hissed, "This war has come to us! We knew about this hunting of the tulkun people, but it was over the horizon, far away!" He jammed his spear into the ground to accentuate his words, "Now, it is here!" 
Aliyah noticed Tsireya crying softly, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. The girl glanced at her, and Aliyah sighed, "I'm sorry this happened here, 'Reya." 
Tsireya nodded, "Me too, Ali. Me too..."
Because of Tonowari's words, the whole clan was now restless with anger. They were eager to avenge the pointless death of Roa and her baby, and would fight untill the end.
Jake interrupted them, trying to reason with the clan, "You've gotta understand how the Sky people think! They don't care about the Great Balance!"

A Metkayina warrior kept shouting, "Death to the Sky people!"
Neteyam tried to help his father, stepping forward, "Listen to him!"
Jake turned to Tonowari, "The Sky people are not gonna stop, this is only the beginning! You've gotta... tell your Tulkuns to leave! You've gotta tell them to go far away!"
Ronal seemed shocked at Jake's words, "Leave?" She paused for a second, "You live among us, and you learned nothing!"
Another warrior stepped forward, "We will fight to protect our bothers and sisters!" The whole clan joined the warrior in making battle cries and ritualistic movements, preparing themselves for the worst.
Jake tried to speak again, "No, no, no! If you attack, if you fight..." He waved his arms around, "Then they will destroy you!" He looked around at the Metkayina people, "They will destroy everything that you love!" Ronal instinctly placed a hand on her pregnant belly. The people weren't happy with Jake's words, and they started shouting angrily at him.
Aliyah joined Neteyam to try and calm down the villagers, holding out her hands toward the people, "Stay calm! Listen to what he says!"
Neteyam looked around at the reef people, "Listen to my father! He speaks the truth!"
Aliyah frantically locked eyes with the villagers around her, "Please! They've killed my parents without remorse, and they will do it again!"

Jake came over to Neteyam, grabbing the flashing beacon that had been plunged into Roa's body, before finding higher ground. He held the beacon over his head, which seemed to silence the clan.
He spoke clearly, trying to remain calm, "You tell the tulkun, that if they're hit by one of these, they're marked for death!" Ronal and Tonowari shared worried glances as Jake continued, "Call for me, and I'll silence it! Saving their lives, that's all that matters, right?" He turned toward Tonowari, "Saving your family."

A heavy silence followed, and Tonowari was clearly mulling Jake's words over in his head. He looked at his mate one last time, who was clutching his hand in fear, before speaking up to the clan, his voice now calm, "Tell the tulkun."
Ronal supported him, pushing the clan to follow his orders, "Go, go!" The whole clan started rushing toward the water, setting out to find their spirit sister or brother and warning them about the red beacon. Neteyam noticed Lo'ak slipping away with the crowd, squinting his eyes at his younger brother and following him.
Aliyah saw him leave, "Hey, where are you going?" She quickly went after him, trying to keep up with his fast pace.

Lo'ak was calling out for an ilu, grabbing a saddle from the rack. He glanced around nervously, not wanting anyone to see him out here. He pushed the saddle over the head of the ilu, petting it gently.
Lo'ak then saw his older brother approach him, swinging his braids, "No way you're going out today, baby brother."
Lo'ak replied with a strong voice, "I have to warn Payakan about the beacon."
Neteyam smiled as he stepped up to his brother, using his hands to accentuate his words, "No. You've got to keep your skxawng ass here."
Aliyah had now joined the two Sully brothers, sensing the tension between them and not liking where this was going.
Lo'ak tried to reason with Neteyam, "He's outcast! There's nobody to warn him but me!"
Neteyam placed a hand on Lo'ak's head, "Bro, why do you always have to make things so hard?"
Lo'ak rougly pushed away Neteyam's hand, "No. You mean why can't I be the perfect son like you? The perfect little soldier!" Neteyam pressed his lips together as he exhaled loudly, nodding in disbelief. 
Lo'ak continued, his voice getting louder, "Well, I'm not you! Okay?" Neteyam didn't speak, towering over Lo'ak as he clearly had to contain his anger.
Aliyah placed a reassuring hand on Neteyam's back, shooting a meaningful glance at Lo'ak to try to get him to stop, "'Tey, he's just upset right now."
However, Lo'ak kept going, walking away from the two teens, "I'm not you! He's my brother, I'm going!"
This seemed to push Neteyam over the edge, speaking through gritted teeth as he pulled Lo'ak's shoulder back, "Oh he's your brother? No, I am your brother!"
Aliyah hated that they were fighting like this, and she thought Lo'ak was being way too rude to his brother, "Lo'ak, stop this! Think this through! I know you want to save Payakan, but let's get Jake to help us!"
Lo'ak shouted at her, "No! He won't understand! Nobody understands!"
Aliyah scoffed, pointing a warning finger in his face, "This is not the time to be a rebel! You're gonna get yourself killed!"
Rotxo, Ao'nung and Tsireya came up to them, and she tried to stop him as well, "Lo'ak!"
Lo'ak ripped himself free of Neteyam's grip, "Get off me!" He saw the other teens closing in on him, and quickly jumped into the water, swimming over to his ilu.
Aliyah yelled after him, "Lo'ak! No! Come back!"
Neteyam shouted at the others, "Come on, he's going to Payakan!" The group made calling noises to call for some ilus, before jumping in the water and rushing after the troubled boy.

Lo'ak came up for air, looking over his shoulder at the others following him, before taking a deep breath and going underwater again. Kiri was sitting on an ilu with Tuk, locking eyes with Lo'ak right before he went under, "Lo'ak!" 
Neteyam shouted at her, "Lo'ak's going to find Payakan!"
Aliyah waved her hand for Kiri to follow them, "Come on, Kiri! Let's go!"
The whole group followed Lo'ak for a while, yelling out his name each time they broke through the water's surface. He came to a halt when he finally reached his spirit brother.
Lo'ak called out to him, waving his arms and begging the tulkun to come over, "Payakan! Brother!"
Payakan was screaming out in agony, as the group closed in on them. 
Lo'ak was worried, "What is it? What's wrong?" The tulkun turned around, revealing the flickering beacon plunged into his skin.
Lo'ak shouted, "Shit!" He jumped on the tulkun's fin, "Stay calm, stay calm! I got this!"
He rushed over to the beacon, trying to pull it out, but it was all in vain. The flickering mark of death was stuck deep into Payakan's skin, continuously sending out signals.

The group approached him, and Aliyah squinted her eyes at something big appearing at the horizon. Her ears fell flat as she became aware of what the ever-expanding dot at the edge of the water was, "Oh no... Sky people..."

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1954 words

Oof, we're getting to the scary parts now! I'm thinking of splitting it up in tinier chapters like this one, so that it doesn't feel as rushed! It's also a bit less time consuming for me right now, so I might be able to write more often. I hope that's okay :)

What did you guys think of this chapter? :)

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Lots of love,
Mar xo