~~~Superstes~~~UNDERGOING MAJOR EDITING

Blue?

Out of the blue, Spider let out a snort of laughter. "I bet he's bullying everyone, wherever he is." 

Kiri snickered and shook her head dismissively. "Neteyam never bullies anyone." 

"He bullies bad guys," Lo'ak butted in, "I know he does. Whenever he's not being serious or in life-threatening danger, he makes fun of all the bad guys. Even when he is in danger! Afterwards he always makes some joke." After a long beat of silence, Lo'ak added, "But he hasn't done that much lately." 

Feya reached out and placed her hand on Lo'ak's. She didn't say anything to him, but she didn't need to. 

"Neteyam survived a bullet through the chest." Kiri said, "He can survive this. We all know that."

Despite the situation being so horrendous, Fey'atsi found it quite funny that their hope was on Neteyam being invincible. The fact that they believed that suited his character pretty well. He could make no mistake, and that mistake included dying. To each of them, Neteyam dying was just incomprehensible. There was no world they could thrive in without him there. 

Feya herself believed the same thing whole-heartedly. Neteyam was invincible. Maybe not to injuries and wounds, but she couldn't accept the possibility that he might not survive. She recalled their dance, and the way he'd grabbed her hand unashamed and led her to the other kids. The little caring kiss he'd planted on her forehead. How he could make her laugh without hardly doing anything that funny. How when he was around, she felt so... happy. Full of love like she could never run out. 

Gosh, it had only been almost a month since she'd reunited with Neteyam, but she felt like they'd been best friends since birth. 

Feya wasn't used to having these feelings. She grew up around Neteyam and the Sully children, but she never felt for him the way she felt for him now. During their time at the forest as he was recovering, she caught herself beginning to like him like him. After all these years, he had grown into a strong, intelligent, and capable young warrior. 

Neteyam had always been that way, eager and skilled at everything he did, but now he was older, and so was Feya.  

But she didn't just like him for his decorum and his titles. She liked him because he was Neteyam, and he was silly, happy-go-lucky, and kind. Of course, she didn't mind his talent and his skills, she enjoyed hearing about them actually, but even if they were stripped away, she would still love him so.  

Feya chewed on her round lips. She stared at the roof of the marui for hours into the night and so did her peers, waiting for any type of relief. 

Then she closed her eyes and prayed for Neteyam's safety. 

                                                                                            ~~~

The air was cool and unexpectedly windy against Neteyam's sweaty skin. His lips were parted open and dry from not being used for quite some time. Even as his eyes were closed, he could still tell by the way his hair blew and how his body wasn't lying against anything except for the smooth skin of an ikran. There was a strong pair of arms that were supporting his neck and his torso. 

Neteyam took a breath in and choked on metallic liquid. His eyes fluttered but they refused to open--one of them he couldn't physically feel. 

Whoever was holding him sat him up a little. He recognized the voice as Iwa. "Hang in there, buddy. We don't have far to go." 

Neteyam wanted to respond, to speak, but the second he tried an awful agony erupted in his sides and twisted all through his stomach. Instead of words his mouth opened in a gasp of pain. 

"I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We're gonna get you home." Iwa continued. 

Neteyam took a few more deep breaths as he reached up to touch his eye, but he wasn't able to do that either. When he moved, his shoulder erupted in sickening waves of pain, and he felt as if fire was traveling through that area. He cried out miserably at the sudden shock of torture. 

"Don't let him move, Iwa." Txana gently chided her husband. 

"You hear that?" The man told him, "Just lie still." 

"I feel sick." Neteyam sobbed, completely lost on what to do to make it better. He moved his legs up and down slowly like a cricket trying to get comfortable, anything to ease the pain that infected various parts of his body. 

"I know you do." Iwa uttered. He was firmly pressing a warm piece of cloth against Neteyam's shoulder. "But don't move, okay? Just don't move and you'll be okay." 

"You said he was gone," Neteyam sputtered, sucking in a huge breath. "You said that he'd left!" 

"Okay, I didn't say that! Linayin did! And for the record, we thought he we gone. That's what he told us." 

"Iwa!" Linayin snapped, from wherever she was. "Don't argue with the teenager. Neteyam, don't worry about it. We're taking you home." 

First of all, he had no clue how these people knew where he lived. But again, he was too exhausted and in too much pain to ask why or care. If he was getting to see his family again, he wouldn't question how. He could deal with the technical stuff later. For now, he was only focused on how to handle this pain. He couldn't even breathe without sending aches and throbs through his ribs. 

His dad could make it better immediately. Dad could just give Neteyam one comforting look, and everything would be automatically fixed, and the pain would vanish. His mom could just say it would be okay and he would believe her because if she said it then it would come true. 

Neteyam swallowed thickly and tried so hard to fall back asleep.    

  Romans 8:26-God understands the cries of our heart, even when they're too deep for words.