Avatar: The Return of The Songbirds

Chapter Eleven: Rey'eng Fmongyu

"Alright, gather around then." Tatal playfully ordered and her siblings wasted no time creating a half circle around her. "If any of you remember anything and want to add, please do." Tatal offered with a smile, the others nodding in response. Tatal let out a pleased sigh, before turning her attention back to Tsovey. "Our clan was lively and very free." Tatal chuckled as she began to look back in her memory. "We lived in the tree's, like now, but only mightier. We made everything ourselves. There was nothing our people could not do." Tatal exclaimed. She couldn't help but smile at the excitement that was plastered on Tsovey's face. "We were the holders of songs. Every night you could hear the echoes of our clan's melodies throughout the treetops...I miss those nights." Tatal paused to take in a soft breath.

"What songs would you sing? I know we have some, but you guys never sing them." Tsovey asked eagerly.

"Many, but my favorite was Ngeyä Menari. It was a song we would sing whenever new life was brought into the world." Tatal paused with a chuckle. "The last time we sang it was when you were born." She added, looking at her sister who had a smile plastered on her face.

"How did it go?" Tsovey continued in excitement.

Tatal shook her head in amusement. "Would you like to learn it?" Tatal asked.

"Yes, I would!" Tsovey screeched.

"I think we should teach her!" Sakire stated with a smile. "If mom and dad really do find our clan, she should know a few songs." She added.

Tatal smiled and nodded. "I agree." She chuckled while holding her hand out to Tsovey. "Come here. I'll teach you." Tatal stated, watching as her sister quickly crawled into her lap. "Do you all remember how it starts?" Tatal questioned.

"Of course we do. We would sing it all the time." Solko replied softly.

"Alright. Now I want all of you to participate." Tatal orders. "That includes you Henilo. Tsovey needs the full experience." She added looking over at her brother with a smirk.

"Okay." Was Henilo's dry reply.

"Okay, follow me." Tatal finishes before beginning a soft hum. Before long the group began harmonizing a beautiful melody, for it was in their blood. As the melody grew, Tatal began to sing the first few words. "furia oel tsere'a kifkey oe ketsukpey. fìkifkey a ngeyä menari tse'a nì'aw"

As Tatal began, Solko and Vialo were quick to join in on the next section. "oeyä huta 'eylanur

oe irayo si"

Tsovey tried her best to follow the harmony alongside Henilo and Sakire, but all she could do was watch them all in awe. Hearing the different melodies come together made Tsovey tear up. For the first time in her life her siblings looked at peace. She never wanted this moment to end. But like everything in life the song had come to an end, too quickly for Tsovey's liking, as Sakire finished the songcord alone. "oeyä huta 'eylanur. oe irayo si'' The melody finished.

"That was beautiful!" Tsovey exclaimed with a vibrant smile, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, Tsovey don't cry." Tatal cooed, bringing her into a warm embrace.

"You would sing songs like that every night?" Tsovey asked.

"Yes, and if you liked this version, just imagine that with a whole clan...it was beautiful." Tatal reminisced in the moments of her childhood.

"Those melodies were the only thing that could put me to sleep." Solko stated with a sorrowful grin. "Since the fall I still struggle to sleep without them." Solko's voice wavered with every word.

"The fall? Is that what happened?" Tsovey questioned.

Tatal lowered her head, holding Tsovey closer to her. "There was a volcano, to the east." She starts. "Although we knew the dangers of this volcano, we never thought it would erupt. We respected our home and the volcano alike, but due to the alien's using these...I don't know what they were, father called them demons."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing." Tsovey giggled out of discomfort.

"They weren't, they were powerful. They could make a tree fall with just the slightest of touch." Tatal paused, feeling her sister begin to tense up in her arms. "I can stop if you don't want to hear anymore." Tatal offered.

"No!" Tsovey blurted out. "I...I want to know." Tsovey exclaimed, leaning into her sister's embrace to feel comfort.

Tatal nodded, bringing her hand up to Tsovey's head and slowly began to run her fingers through Tsovey's hair. She knew that was the only thing that could soothe the young child in that moment. "Father was on surveillance...watching the alien's." Tatal sighed. "We had to watch them, make sure they did not get close to us...make sure they had no knowledge of our existence." Tatal continued. "But on that day...the alien's got too close to the volcano. They used these 'demons' and began digging deep into the ground." Tatal's breath hitched at the memory. "Too deep."

"What happened?" Tsovey asked nervously.

"Chaos." Solko whispered.

Tatal looked over at Solko who was visibly frightened by the memory. Tatal sighed and reached out her hand to Solko, who was quick to take hold of it. "The ground began to shake as screams erupted throughout the trees." Tatal closed her eyes as the horrors of that day replayed in her mind. "I heard mother yelling for us." She continued. "But I was with..." She hesitated. Her siblings looked at her with sadness in their eyes.

"What? Who were you with?" Tsovey asked in confusion.

"I was with a boy named Lukìn." She replied. "We were to be a mated pair." Tatal gritted her teeth, trying to stop the tears that were begging to fall down her cheeks.

"Tatal..." Vialo's soft voice brought Tatal back a little.

"Lukìn and I ran to find her, all the while trying to help everyone we came across." Tatal continued. "We struggled to get to our families because the floor kept shaking, we couldn;t keep our footing." Tatal took a moment because she could feel everyone becoming anxious. She motioned for everyone to take in a breath before she continued. "Eventually we were all together again, however, once we found each other...he and I were almost immediately separated." Tatal exclaimed. "I never saw him again." Tatal's brow curled inward in sorrow. Tsovey reached up and gently rubbed her thumb on Tatal's forehead, making Tatal smile lightly.  "Next thing I knew, father was telling us to run...that the magma from Rey'eng Fmongyu was coming."

"Rey'eng Fmongyu...that is a scary name." Tsovey whispered, holding onto Tatal's arm that was wrapped around her waist.

Tatal cleared her throat and sat up straighter and placed her chin on the top of Tsovey's head, trying to comfort her. "We all ran as fast as we could." Tatal continued. "We ran for so long, I thought my legs would give out. At one point Sakire collapsed, so Henilo had to carry her on his back until father told us to stop, but when we finally looked behind us, no one else was there." Tatal paused, hugging Tsovey tightly. "Only the seven of us remained of the Tìk'nui clan." Tatal smiled softly. "Shortly after father went back, to see if there was anyone left...but there wasn't. We were alone." Tatal let out a shaky breath. "After we settled here, and we found out mom was pregnant with you Tsovey...you brought light and excitement back to us right when we needed it most. We rebuilt, make this place our new home. Somewhere, where we knew we would be safe from those monsters." Tatal hissed.

"The alien's?" Tsovey asked.

"Yes, the alien's. They'll never hurt us again. We are far from any volcano, ocean, mountain...nothing can hurt us like that again." Tatal reassured the young girl.

"What if the alien's find us?" Tsovey questioned nervously.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

I made a real song to go along with the lyrics with the help of my friend Hawre'ä atswal yemstokxyu as a cover if you will with one of the tracks from Avatar: The Way Of Water! Leave a comment if you would be interested in hearing it!!