Shooting Stars | Lo'ak¹

Chapter 34: Heartbreaking Ceremonies

Ja'lia choked on a sob at the sight of Neteyam as she turned around and buried her face in Lo'ak's chest. There was blood everywhere, and as she thought of how much pain he must have been in in his last moments it felt like the wind had been knocked out of her lungs. He had been shot off the left side of his chest, through his heart. Neteyam never even had a chance of someone being able to heal him.

A shot to the heart was fatal under any circumstance.

Everyone sat in silence as they gathered around either their son, brother, friend, or protector. Ja'lia heard slow footsteps. She glanced through her blurred eyes to see Jake moving towards Lo'ak. The girl pulled away while wiping her eyes so that the father and son could hold each other, and when Ja'lia looked to her right, she saw that Spider had come back from wherever he disappeared too.

The human boy walked over to Jake, and the man pulled him into a hug before releasing him, allowing Spider to comfort his friend.

"Monkey boy," Kiri said, reaching out for her friend, who gladly opened his arms to pull her into a hug. Kiri stood up and moved to the side so she could give someone else room to sit beside Neteyam before they took him back to the village, and Ja'lia took it as her chance.

She slowly walked toward Neteyam as she did her best to mentally prepare herself. Once Ja'lia was beside Neteyam, she sat down and did her best to keep her distance. But when Neytiri noticed the girl there, she gave Ja'lia Neteyam's other hand to allow her to hold it while she stroked Neteyam's hair. Ja'lia reluctantly grabbed Neteyam's hand before firmly holding it between her own.

"I'm so sorry," Ja'lia whispered, allowing the tears to fall as she closed her eyes to control her labored breathing. She brought his hand up to her face and kissed it, feeling his cool skin against her warm skin. "I'm so sorry, Neteyam."

Tuk looked up at her friend in sadness as the girl continued to whisper apologies for something that wasn't even her fault. There wasn't anything Ja'lia could have done to prevent Neteyam's death, so why was she sorry? Why did she keep apologizing? As far as Tuk knew, they hadn't gotten into a fight with each other. Her apologies didn't make any sense to the young girl. Tuk got up from her spot and walked over to pull Ja'lia into a hug, as it seemed like it was something she needed.

When Ja'lia felt a pair of small arms wrap themselves around her, she looked up to see Tuk looking down at her. Ja'lia turned away from Neteyam and pulled the youngest Sully child in her lap, rocking her back and forth. She then saw Jake and Lo'ak make their way over to Neteyam, so she decided to move herself so that they would be able to be close to Neteyam.

The group sat with the oldest Sully child up, and the sun was soon at its peak, and that's when Jake decided to speak up. "We should probably head back," He said softly, causing Neytiri to look up at her husband with tear-stained cheeks.

Neytiri knew they needed to go, but she didn't want to. Because as soon as they got back, preparations for Neteyam's funeral would be made. The mother didn't want to say goodbye to her baby. A parent should never have to bury their child.

But as she looked around the group, she saw how drained they were, physically and mentally. They needed to go back home. Preparations for Neteyam needed to be made, and everyone needed to get some rest. So, while Neytiri wholeheartedly wanted to stay longer, she knew it wasn't in everyone else's best interest.

"Okay," Neytiri agreed, gently placing Neteyam's head back onto the ground before pushing on her knees to stand up. The kids who had been sitting around looked up at Neytiri and knew it was time for them to head back. They all slowly stood up and waited for Jake or Neytiri to make the first move.

However, they all knew that while Neytiri agreed that it was time to leave, it would be Jake who would have to finalize that decision by placing Neteyam on Payakan so they could leave. Jake knelt by his son and placed one arm under the back of his neck and the other under the back of his legs before slowly lifting him into the air.