Invisible String - Jake Sully

14

"Oh, hello everyone, sorry for being late," a familiar voice walked in with a wide grin that made him look so adorable. His steps were sure, and he carried himself like a leader in front of the kids.

Zovi's mouth was agape. He couldn't believe that toruk makto was here.

The kids' whispers grew louder. They were amazed by the Toruk Makto, and having him teaching them was the best thing that ever happened in their ten years of life.

"Toruk makto here will help me with the demonstration," Tonowari smirked, sneakily looking at Tawn, stunned by his surprised guest. He did or did not take some advice from his wife.

"Please, call me Jake," he smiled warmly at the kids, his eyes locked on Tawn for a moment before returning to the kids.

Tawn was surprised. She didn't expect Tonowari to bring Jake with him. The kids seemed to love the surprise since they were more enthusiastic about Jake's presence amidst them.

"Now, as you can see, in order to maintain the balance of the ecosystem, we need to be conscious of our technique. We want to catch enough fish for the day without damaging the corals and other sea life underneath," Tonowari explained before looking at Jake, "please, Jake, demonstrate how it's done."

Jake nodded and grabbed a net from one of the tables set up by Tonowari before the class started. He walked to the water, stepping onto the ridges built in it and adjusted his stance. Jake's eyebrow scrunched in concentration, his ears went back, and his hands tried to find the perfect grip of the net.

Tawn watched with pride swelling in her chest when he threw the net effortlessly onto the water and then carefully pulled the net towards him carefully with strings attached to its side, trapping the fishes.

"Now, if we want to use this method, we could only do it once a day because we don't want to overconsume the fish," Tonowari explained, "this method is usually used when we have a big gathering that needs a significant amount of food to feed the clan."

The kids nodded, soaking in the information eagerly.

Jake then showed them what he got before releasing the fishes back into their habitats.

"Next thing we have here is the fishing hook," Tonowari explained.

During the explanation, Tawn focused only on the kids and the man demonstrating it. She was so proud of how far he'd come. He went to not being able to do anything to help Tonowari teach the new generation of metkayina their own ways.

"He's great at teaching," Zovi whispered.

Tawn turned to look at him in confusion, "who, Tonowari? He should be. He's the olo'eyktan, he-"

Zovi chuckled, "no, I mean Jake Sully."

Tawn awkwardly chuckled, "yeah, he is," she nodded.

"I see now why you fell in love with him," Zovi said to himself, looking down at his foot.

Tawn shifted her attention to Jake, "I don't want to talk about it here, Zovi, please."

"I'm not saying anything, Tawn," Zovi defended himself.

Tawn sighed and walked towards her kids. The group was divided into two, five with Jake and five with Tonowari. Tawn didn't want to be more obvious, so she approached Tonowari's group first.

He was teaching them how to fish with a small fishing net. Her students were enjoying their time with the olo'eyktan. Every time someone successfully caught a fish, cheers erupted among the kids. One of her students decided to impress the olo'eyktan by catching a fish with their bare hands. It didn't turn out well since the slippery fish just slipped right through his grip.