~~~Superstes~~~UNDERGOING MAJOR EDITING

Operation: Kids.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "He looks like he bites, that's for sure."

"Oh, he does indeed."

Neteyam hissed at both of them, although his knees were growing weak. He lifted his arm to look at it, and he gagged. There was a sharp bone poking through his bloodied blue skin, and his arm structure was now deformed completely. 

The woman chuckled, pointing to a big helicopter. "Well, we got a cage you can put him in. He'll have some wiggle room, but I'd tie his hands up."

Neteyam completely gave up and collapsed to the concrete ground, his eyes sliding shut. Quaritch managed to keep a hold on him, enough to where he was halfway standing and halfway slouched over. They mumbled something and cuffed his hands together with an orange band, touching his arm in the process. Neteyam lashed out and cried, his tail thrashing against the floor. But they didn't care. They muzzled him, too, placing an uncomfortable rock-solid mask that went over his mouth and nose. 

Quaritch dragged him--literally dragged him this time--to an extremely tall, wide, steel cage with bars. He threw Neteyam in and laid him against the cold metal floor. 

Neteyam longed for the warmth of his loving parents.

                                                                                         ~~~

Nobody knew what to say. Nobody did anything. There was nothing they could do.

"Skxawng." Lo'ak hissed under his breath, putting his hands in his head. "They're going to kill him." 

Kiri shook her head in reassurance and placed a hand on her brother's back. "No, Lo'ak. He is strong, and smart. He knows what he is doing, I'm sure."

Lo'ak looked at her, his eyes wide with panic. Clearly, the two brothers shared a very close bond. It was easily demonstrated between the two of them all the time. "They broke his arm, Kiri! Didn't you see it? All twisted and misshapen! He can't fight his way out of this! And anyway, you're the one who tried to get him to stay!"

Kiri only stared at him with empathy. "No, you are wrong. We mustn't fight amongst ourselves. We are in a tough enough situation as it is. You must understand that Neteyam has more experience with these things than you do--he will be alright." 

Fe'ya watched the two siblings interact, unsure of what to do herself. But the positiveness in which Kiri spoke never met her eyes. Would they really kill Neteyam? She thought about that kiss he planted on her forehead. It seemed like a waste to kill him, but now they wanted revenge for Fike's death. 

After she'd watched Neteyam go ballistic on those avatars, she had experienced a brief feeling of security. He was strong, smart, crazily intelligent, and he was skilled in fighting techniques. But after she witnessed him surrender to Quaritch when Lo'ak's life was at stake, the feeling of security dropped. Each of them knew that family was a weakness for Neteyam, and Quaritch could do whatever he wanted now with that one weakness, but of course it happened to be Neteyam's siblings. If Quaritch threatened them to threaten Neteyam, who knows what he could to do manipulate the boy. 

She sighed and Kiri looked at them, both of them understanding one another. 

Lo'ak avoided their eyes, with tears budding in his own. The cup of his was overflowing with built up tension and regret. He quickly wiped them away and said, "He's always getting into trouble for me. Always. And what do I do? I complain and gripe about it."