I had always been of the idea that it was no coincidence that all living things existed. It was not possible that it just happened. But there was not much I could comment on that; Eywa did as Eywa saw fit. No one wanted to think they were stupid for not getting the meaning behind life, and neither did I. For that reason, I was bound to live and talk and walk like I had any idea of what I was doing. It was just too sad.
Perhaps I was five or six when I felt like I finally had a piece of my puzzle solved: I was friends with Neteyam. His father was the clan's Olo'eyktan, and with his busy schedule of endless teachings for his future role as leader, Net and I barely had time to see each other. That's why I found astounding the fact that our friendship was solid enough to not crumble upon some weeks of lack of interaction. When I finally got the chance to see him, standing next to his brother Lo'ak, both hand-making some beads for their hair, I yelled.
"NETEYAM!" I said while eagerly running towards him. He looked up to see me and I swear I saw a glimpse of shine through them. He immediately jumped to his feet and caught me, his arms around my waist as he pulled me in for a breathtaking hug.
"Glad to see you missed me," he quickly responded, a wide smile adorning his face, dropping me in front of him. I said some words to Lo'ak besides me to not appear rude. He didn't seem to care and went back to painting his wood bead.
"Look! Look! I finally lost another milk tooth!" He looked at the gaps of teeth in my mouth and smiled even more, if that was possible. "It's my third one so far, I bet I already beat you with that. You owe me that toy you took last time." I watched his eyebrows frown visibly and I stuck out my tongue.
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, lady, but I still got the lead, see?" and he showed me a space in his mouth that, a month ago, was occupied by a white block. He grinned and I rolled my eyes.
"I hate you!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, you fish face!"
"In that case, I hate you more, smelly feet!"
"You should smell your feet, it's like they were dipped in shit!" I might have been too harsh with that, but his face when I said it was priceless. Neteyam had his mouth gaped wide, his eyes equally open, and his eyebrows raised but furrowed at the same time. It was all fun and games.
Anyhow, we started chasing each other through the forest, climbing and swinging through the trees. At that time it felt like I had run for a whole hour, but it could have easily been ten minutes. My and Neteyam's breathing were short and fast, one after another in just a couple of seconds. I felt my throat dry.
When I was taking a break, after debating for some minutes if I had been the one chasing or the one being chased, Neteyam grabbed me from my torso and yanked me to his shoulder. I yelled angrily at him, calling him all kinds of things. Neteyam was unbothered, walking somewhere I couldn't see. He had no idea his to carry people on his shoulder, so he kept shifting my position until he dropped me like I was some sack of fruit. Interestingly, the fall hadn't hurt a bit, as it seemed that Neteyam left me on the most grassy and somewhat comfortable part. Nonetheless, I was about to kick him in between his legs when I realized where he had taken me.
It was the Tree of Voices.
Both of our breathing stopped. All I could do was admire the huge tree. The sun was a couple of minutes away from setting, and I knew that soon the bioluminescence of the place would show itself. I sat on the floor, silently waiting for said moment. Around us was heard the sound of hooves on grass, the rattling of leaves and the swinging of vines. Everything was calm.
"What do you think it's like? To get a mate, I mean," Neteyam asked and turned his head at me. He, too, was sitting, his left arm touching my right one.
"I don't know. I've never really thought about it, I guess I'm too young to understand. Mama always says that there is nothing like it, that it's an extension of the love you feel." He nodded and I continued. "There is not much I know. Dad says it's a talk for grown-ups and that crap."
He seemed to have gotten an idea, and said, "Well, I know nothing, too. But I want to try it." He looked at me.
I gagged. "Why would you?! It's weird and sounds unhygienic. I don't want to mate."
He poked my arm. "Sure you do! And it better be with me." He had the same childish expression as me. Neteyam had an exaggerated frown on his face, his arms crossed and covering his chest.
"You're only my friend!"
"I'm sure friends mate!" He kept whining.
"And why would I ever want to share thoughts and that stuff with you? You're a skxawng!" I yelled and stuck out my tongue. It was my characteristic move.
"Really? Then I guess we shouldn't bond!"
"You guessed right!"
Neteyam puffed his cheeks and his ears flattened down. His sage eyes with a spark of yellow only told me one thing: he was mad. And if he was mad then I was, too. That was our dynamic, from playing fun to yelling and mimicking what the other did. Our fights never lasted long, but they sure felt like it. When you are five years old, time passes either slowly, with excessive boredom spreading through your body and wanting things to be done there and then, or, instead, as fast as it possibly could.
This time, and as stubborn as I was, I didn't want to give in. Neteyam was the one who usually surrendered first. Curiously, it only happened when the fights were with me; if they were with Lo'ak or other kids, has would stand straight, his serious mask on, arms crossed, or hands on his hips, and wait until that other individual decided they couldn't go against the Olo'eyktan's son.
I turned my head to look at him. He was never one to cry, but he was also never good at hiding his sadness. The only way he could cover it was with some moments of superbness, but it would eventually fade away. It was then when you could see his small pouting and frown. He would never let others see him like that, at least face-to-face, so he would sit on the floor or a rock, his head rested on his fist, and his gaze looking lazily at whatever was laying on the ground. It made me want to apologize.
"Fine. We can bond, but don't tell anyone! You might scare them and make them think I'm weird. If you do, I'll never speak to you again."
Neteyam turned to me, his eyes shining, reflecting the light from the vines of the Tree of Voices. He now had a huge grin.
"I won't, I promise!"
I didn't know much about bonding and much less about mating. The only information we had were the small talks the older children would give. The ones who supposedly had some experience. 'You have to join queues', 'close your eyes, don't make it awkward', and 'it feels great, you'll know what we mean when you're older'. Older. Now, later, it probably didn't matter. It was just some meaningless —to me, not to Neteyam, it seemed— act, quick and simple. We could do it. I had no problem with it,
"Nothing bad is going to happen, right?" I asked, just to be sure.
His eyes locked with mine and he gave me the sweetest smile I had ever seen from him or any other person. He grabbed my hand loosely.
"Trust me," Neteyam said. His words echoed in my head. His look of certainty glitched for a moment. "You do want to bond with me, don't you?"
Something in the way he said it, and how he stared at me with a combination of emotions, shocked my five-year-old self. It was like every moving limb I had froze still. Only my eyes were able to shift, and they did with small desperation.
"I do."
Neteyam smiled and sat us down on the grass and flowered floor. He passed his kuru from his back over to his shoulder. I grasped my braid, still looking at him, and mimicked what he did.
It was that one moment of innocence that followed that felt like magic. It also felt like I had done something stupid, but I somehow didn't regret it. By the end of the day, Neteyam and I had joined our queues together. It was an unexplainable sensation, like a something that you couldn't understand until you tried it. I could feel his breathing, his heartbeat, the sensations of excitement.
We were both calm after that. I could still feel a faint wave of how he felt: dreamy and tired. So was I, actually. Most of our energy drained in minutes and having to stay sit with my toes bending made my feet sore.
Neteyam offered to carry me all the way back home. I was expecting what his dad calls, from his human sayings, a 'bridal style' type of hold, at least as a reward, but he just threw me over his shoulder, once again, and I hit him with my fists the whole time. Once again, he was strong enough to hold me, but he kept on balancing me back and forth. If that dipshit —a word that Dad taught me— dropped me, I'd make sure to revenge.
When we were back, Neytiri came to us and took Neteyam. She let me hug the four-year-old Lo'ak that was in her arms before leaving. When I got to where Mom and Dad were, they grabbed my hand and pulled me into our tent.
"I told you not to stay out so long. I specifically said 'be back before nighttime', and what do you do? Arrive as late as you can be," Mom said, but immediately pulled me into a tight embrace, "You made me worry very much, honey. Thank the Great Mother for your well-being."
"Like your sa'nok said, ma 'ite. And..." he stopped himself, sniffing the air, "You smell weird. Don't get too close to the chief's son, his scent is already mixing with yours. We don't want to give the wrong idea and angry the Toruk Makto."
I nodded, holding back a smile.
—————
Author's note:
Hey guys, I hope you're all doing great and enjoying the story so far. I had been wanting to start a story for quite some years now, but I wasn't too fond of my writing skills. Today, roughly two hours ago, I suddenly got this intense urge to write a fan fiction, and here we are. I'd also like to clarify that English is not my first language, but I'll do my best to use big words (caught the pun?) and do my very best to avoid making this a home for grammar and spelling mistakes.
I know that this first chapter was probably a damn lot, but I found it hilarious and something that could happen with the Na'vi. Just some random kids, too young and innocent for their own good, making the bond because the thought simply occurred. I do want to clarify that bonding is a part of mating that consists only in joining queues. The other part of mating is sex, which I suppose always leads to pregnancies, because they don't seem to have protection for that kind of stuff, or do they?
It would make me overly happy if you leave your comments. I am always looking for tips, constructive criticism, and your reactions. If you like the story, don't forget to vote! It helps the book get high in rankings, making it more noticeable for Neteyam lovers to find the fanfic.
I'm hoping the writer in me lasts more than a day and that I'll be able to update soon.
Happy holidays, cheers.
Edit:
Hello! Just in case, I want to clarify that i changed this chapter 13 days after first publishing. I decided to do that because looking at the statistics it seemed that not a lot of people got past the first chapter. It made me realize that the way of introducing the story was not the best, so I rewrote it to fit better into what my goal of the story is. I hope you'll continue reading, I promise it's a good plot!
By the way, you can call me Dina.
Cheers.