~~~Superstes~~~UNDERGOING MAJOR EDITING

Blown to pieces.

Feeling quite jittery, I watched the warrior leave. I wished I could go back out there, let Neteyam know I was okay. 

Then, the jittering feeling morphed into a nervous, heart-fluttering memory that flashed into my mind like a strike of lightening. My eyes widened. He had kissed me on the crown of my head, uttering, I see you. 

A dumb, ignorant smile grew on my lips. He really did that, and he had no idea I felt it. But why did he have to do it while I was barely conscious? I wanted to experience it fully awake, where I could see him and feel him. He must have been so scared, for him to do that. Maybe he thought it was his last chance. 

I felt a great amount of sympathy for him. 

I laid in bed for hours after that, waiting for the battle to be over. Injured warriors would come flooding in, got treated, then rushed back out. Unless they were too wounded to carry on, they kept going. 

However, I sat up when Lo'ak hobbled in, grinning from ear to ear. When he saw me, he sauntered over to my bed. "Fe'ya, we killed him! He's dead, Dad shot him!" 

I sat up, keeping myself stable by propping my torso up with my arms. "What? Your dad killed who?" 

Lo'ak laughed. "Quaritch! As soon as he saw him, Dad shot the demon in the face!" 

I put my hand on my whirling abdomen. "Lo'ak...be a little less descriptive." I wasn't sure I could handle the image of Quaritch's face being blown off with my already nauseated stomach.   

He noticed the dressing around my hip, and slowly, his face fell. "Oh, sorry. Are you okay? I was wondering where you went."  

"I'm fine, Lo'ak. Just a bullet to the hip bone, you know." I leaned forward and looked about the room, "Does this mean the battle's over? Where is everyone?" 

"They're still driving the rest of the RDA away." informs Lo'ak, plopping down on the edge of the bed. He pulls his twisted foot onto his lap, "But we're winning gracefully. Most of them have already fled since their boss is gone." 

                                                                                        ~~~

I watch Quaritch slump to the ground, lifeless, a big, gaping hole blown right through his skull. Instantly, a weight is lifted from my chest. I don't bother checking his pulse--nobody could survive that. Instead, I rush over to help Neteyam up, who was knocked to the ground roughly. I pull the trembling boy to his feet, my heart racing. 

"Neteyam, I'm taking you to high camp. Everyone else is there, got it?" I try and exaggerate the words. 

He just shakes his head. "What? I can't hear you, Dad, why can't I hear anything?" He shouts. I close my eyes briefly, because what was I supposed to do? There was no point in trying to calm him down. I had no idea what he'd gotten himself into, but I figured it was one of those air bombs. Those were enough to destroy someone's hearing. 

I cupped Neteyam's face and fixated his gaze on me. "Listen, Neteyam. You--" I signed the words, "Need to go to high camp. We'll look at you there. Understand?" 

A few tears fell from his cheeks, and he nodded. 

                                                                                          ~~~

Mine and Lo'ak's attention was drawn to Jake dragging a disheveled, disarrayed Neteyam into the entrance of the longhouse. Jake had blood splattered all over him, mainly his face and neck. Neteyam was bleeding and clearly distraught as Jake took him to the busy Tsahik, Mo'at, who has been working alongside Linayin and Kiri. There were also some avatars helping treat the wounded.