Family

Kiri

I stare down at the sand, examining a small line of holes I discovered. I love how the light reflects on the water, creating illuminated patterns on the sand below. I'm wondering what the holes are when I hear voices. 

"Huh?" I smile up at the four boys. "What did you say?"

"Are you some kind of... freak?" Aonung asks. Roxto and their two other friends chuckle and laugh amongst each other. 

"He asked if you are a freak." One of them echoes. 

My heart sinks and I stand up, immediately embarrassed. "No." I reply with a sigh. 

"Are you sure?" They follow me out of the water. "Are you sure? I mean, you're not even real Na'vi." He tries to grab my hand, but I pull away, in fear now. "Look at these hands." He tries again, successfully this time. "I mean, look at them!"

"Hey!" I hear Lo'ak, and feel relieved. "Back off fish lips." He approaches angrily, his tail snapping back and forth. 

"Oh, another four fingered freak." Aonung taunts him, but backs up as he walks towards him. I'm nervous again. This isn't good. 

"Look at his little baby tail!" Roxto grabs Lo'ak's tail, pulling him away from Aonung. 

"Don't touch me!" Lo'ak shoves him away, but the other boys keep taunting as he keeps shoving them away. 

"Leave us alone!" I try and command, but they don't listen. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, Neteyam and Joey appear, clearly angry. 

Neteyam shoves Aonung away from Lo'ak furiously, and Joey, pushes the three other guys away from Lo'ak, her tail whipping back and forth as she hisses. 

"You heard what she said." Neteyam sounds a lot more confident than me. 

I notice Joey admiring him. She clearly likes that tone of voice. Ew. 

"Leave them alone." Neteyam pokes Aonung away. 

"Oh, big brother come and-" One of the other guys tries, but the look Neteyam gives him shuts him up right away. 

"Back. Off." Joey has appeared by Neteyam's side. She pokes Aonung one last time in the chest. "Now."

Aonung has his arm up, stopping the other guy from approaching. He stares at Neteyam and Joey thoughtfully, as if debating if the fight is worth it. He must have some form of respect or fear for them, because after a few moments, he raises his hands up in surrender. 

"Smart choice." Neteyam sighs. He must be relieved to have avoided a fight. "And from now on, I need you to respect my sister." He is speaking to all of them. 

The other guy hisses in response, but Aonung stops him. 

"Let's go." Joey nods her head, and the four of us go to leave. I stick my tongue out at them, teasing them. Can't do anything to me when I have my brothers here. 

"Bye bye!" One calls after us as we leave. I can hear them joking about us, calling us all freaks, but we ignore it. Well, we try to. 

Lo'ak stops and turns around, facing them again. Neteyam tries to call him back, but he doesn't listen. "It's okay, bro, I got this." He walks up to the boys, holding out his hand. "I know this hand is funny. Look, I'm a freak." He wiggles his pinky. "An alien. But it can do something really cool." 

I don't like where this is going. 

"Watch." Lo'ak pushes his fingers into a fist as Aonung watches him curiously. "First, I ball it up real tight, like this. Okay? Then-" He quickly punches Aonung forcefully, surprising him. While he is dazed, he punches him two more times, knocking him to the ground. 

"It's called a punch, bitch!" Lo'ak calls over as Aonung's friends pull him up. "Don't ever touch my sister again." 

The boys all rush Lo'ak, tackling him to the ground, dragging him by his tail. 

Neteyam chuckles and sighs next to me, before running in to help. He rips one of the guys away from Lo'ak, throwing him to the ground, and kneeing another one n the stomach. 

When a third guy tackles him into the water, Joey jumps in. They should be afraid now. Everyone knows you don't fuck with Neteyam. 

She jumps on the guy who is on top of Neteyam, sending them both spinning into the water. I watch in a sort of awe as she stands up above him, punching him into the water. She storms over to the next guy, who is sitting on top of Lo'ak, andrips him off of him with a lot more force than I thought possible. She punches him into the sand too. The first guy grabs her tail and yanks her down, making her almost face plant into the sand. One of them starts kicking her in the ribs before Neteyam grabs him and lands another punch across his face. 

"You're so stupid!" I call out to them as they all wrestle in the sand. I want to break up the fight but there's not much I can do. I'm not a fighter like they are. 

Joey hisses at Aonung, who for a second, looks afraid. He hisses back nervously, and she rushes him. He dodges her punch but she uses her momentum to knee him in the side. 

She runs back over to Neteyam and Lo'ak when she hears a boy screaming about his ear. Lo'ak is being dragged by his legs and tail, but he has a tight grip on one of their ears. 

II can't help but laugh at the sight of the five of them wrestling in the sand. 

"Hey!" I hear my father's voice loud and clear. He is not happy. 

Lo'ak, Neteyam, and Joey all quickly stop and stand, staring at their feet. The other boys quickly back up and run off. 

Jake doesn't say a word, he just nods his head furiously for them to follow him. They do as they're told shamefully.