"Hey! Hey, what're you doing? Stop! Stop, don't hurt them!" a human boy yelled as he ran up to us.
"Do you know him?" I asked Tuk loudly, who was being strongly overpowered by an avatar. "Don't fight! Stay calm!"
"He's a family friend." Lo'ak grunted from being pinned on the floor.
"Bro." the boy said, looking at Tsireya, Lo'ak, Tuk, and I. "Are you guys okay?"
"Do you think we are?!" Lo'ak shouted as the guy pinned him to the ground. Reading his mind, I hissed to Tuk, "His name is SPIDER?"
Her eyes widened. "How do you know...?"
"Shut up, girl!" the soldier guy exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes.
"Chill. It's not like I actually shot you." I turned back to Spider and responded sarcastically to his 'ya good?' question, while being smushed onto the concrete ground. "Yeah. Doing great. Never better, really."
"Uh, who are you?"
Lo'ak snarled at his captor, before turning back to the boy. "That's Y/N, Spider! She's a friend, but we don't have time for introductions right now!"
"She's turquoise??"
"I'm a Metkayina, dumbass!" I snapped. Had he only ever seen forest Na'vi before in his life? Actually, probably yeah.
"Oh!" he said. "Oh yeah, those people!"
A piercing pain stabbed my head, and I staggered down from the pain. A flash of fire, a Metkayina village burning, and Spider standing there carved itself into my memory. I hissed, slowly turning to glare at him.
"You mean the ones whose village you burned to the ground?"
Spider's eyes widened. His mouth dropped open like he was lost for words. I was right.
"What is she talking about, Spider?" Lo'ak shouted, letting himself be forced up.
"I didn't know. I didn't know. They did it. I wasn't a part of it, I swear." he answered in a low voice. I felt bad for him. If it wasn't his fault, then having to witness it while not being able to do anything must've been traumatizing.
The main man who flew on the Ikran leaped back down. "Bring him back to the bridge," he ordered to what I guessed were his soldiers. Spider was shoved along before Lo'ak or I could ask any more questions. Lo'ak's captor forced him up so "Quaritch" as the others addressed him mentally, could decide what to do.
"Cuff 'em to the rail." he snapped. He glanced down at me, then scoffed. "All of them."
We were jostled to the rail, where I was cuffed by a strange orange device that reminded me sickly of the pingers. I was kept next to Tuk and Lo'ak. On the other side of Tuk was Tsireya, still struggling and crying for help. They strapped us securely, despite our protests.
"This is great." I commented sarcastically. "What an ideal situation. I'm having fun. How about you?"
Lo'ak shook his head. "I gotta admit, not the most enjoyable adventure I've been on."
"At least this'll be a great experience to brag about..."
"Assuming we actually get out of here alive." he muttered, but I rolled my eyes.
"I can move water with my mind or call P'lei or Payakan at any moment. We'll be fine."
He perked up. "You mean you can get us out?"
"Of course I can get us out. The amount of faith you have in me is just disappointing." I replied with yet another dramatic head shake. He scoffed and struggled against his binds without success. "Can you call Payakan now?"
"Slow down, I have to call P'lei too! She'll be mad at me for the next month if I don't let her in on a little action. Always complains that there's not enough drama going around nowadays."
I heard Lo'ak mutter "sounds like her.", but a war cry soon ended our conversation. We both immediately looked up, our senses once again alert.
"Hey, on the bright side, at least they didn't kill us when they got the chance!" I told him super encouragingly as we watched the reinforcements come into view.
"We're so screwed!" he groaned as we squinted into the distance and saw Jake was the only one carrying a gun.
Payakan, P'lei, whichever one of you is listening, we need you here ASAP!
Payakan was the first to answer my call as Quaritch negotiated with Jake using Lo'ak's earpiece.
Like, now-now? Payakan's voice rang in my head. Because I just got shot with a pinger and I'm not really in the mood for exercise, ya know—
Quaritch pointing a gun straight at the back of Lo'ak's head snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Lo'ak! No!" Tsireya shrieked, and her cuffs clanged as she desperately tried to escape, though in vain.
"Lo'ak!" I also shouted. "Oh my god, stay calm!"
"I took you under my wing, Jake." Quaritch stated threateningly. I saw Jake lower his gun with a frustrated hiss. "You betrayed me. You killed your own."
YES, NOW! I told the Tulkun urgently. I was this close to unaliving him. Get here NOW, Payakan! We could really use the help!
How urgent is it, on a scale from 1 to 10? He had the nerve to keep asking questions.
There's a gun right pointed right at Lo'ak's head right now. I won't say it again. One finger slip and his life is gone, skxawng.
Okay, so a 10. Why didn't you just say so?! Nevermind, I'M ON MY WAY!!!
"Good men and good women, I will not hesitate to execute your kid." Quaritch growled threateningly. His voice was laced with venom and revenge for something that clearly happened long ago.
"Just wait one." I heard Jake say. I couldn't resist rattling my chains in frustration. Please hurry!
There was a long pause in which a conversation that I was too keen on saving my energy to listen to what happened. I knew Jake and my parents were discussing the matter, though. And once my mom realized that Tsireya and I's kidnapping as well as the death of her spirit sister were all because of their need for Jake, well, it wouldn't be good.
"What's it gonna be?" asked Quaritch. Like I predicted, Jake rode forward without resistance.
"Take your fire. I'm comin out."
I had to admit he had much courage. The man who had chained us up was aiming right for Jake on his gun.
"Easy shot," he remarked. Quaritch stopped him.
"You shoot now, they all attack. Wait till he's onboard."
Lo'ak snarled in frustration. The gun was still pointed to his head, and the added stress if his father coming to his own possible doom was also not appealing.
Just then, a deep rumbling sound erupted from the sea, and out came Payakan.
"Payakan!" Tuk cried.
"You're really late but you did show up!" I exclaimed joyfully with her.
The giant Tulkun smashed down onto the aircraft, causing the entire floor to shake violently. He also landed on many soldiers in the process, effectively eliminating them from sight.
"Open fire, open fire!" Someone declared, and soon all you could hear was the continuous clashing of bullets making contact with his impenetrable outer skin. And with this distraction, we were able to do something.
"Brother!" shouted Lo'ak. He climbed onto the rail and kicked his guard away powerfully. Payakan's fin instantly smashed the guy, causing terrified yelling to fill the air. Upon roaring loudly, I knew he was furious. The sight of Lo'ak with a gun to his head obviously didn't sit well with him. His tail swung in the air and efficiently destroyed the top half of the aircraft. The tower toppled down and caused many people to yell and try to get away from the crushing structures. Machines and suits were being thrown in every direction. Gunshots were still resounding in the air, bringing back horrible flashbacks.
Although the others didn't understand Tulkun, I could a little. "I better get more appreciation after this!" Payakan was yelling something along those lines crazily while swinging his tail around left and right and wriggling all over the aircraft, or everywhere except for where we were.
Swerving around upon feeling the repetitive eerie tingling, I saw two smaller Tulkun hunter ships driving in front to get rid of Payakan.
"Watch out, Pay-yay!" I exclaimed without thinking about his nickname. Payakan heard me, because the moment the pinger shot out of the blaster he tricked them by closing his humongous mouth and making it ricochet off his top shell and explode somewhere in the structure.
With one last deafening roar, he plunged back into the water, breaking more machinery and metal walkways in the process. Need to destroy something? Just call a Tulkun.
"Open fire! OPEN FIRE!" The guys screeched as our attentions were now directed towards the incoming Metkayina army fleet. I didn't see Neytiri in the front lines, so I was reassured to know the powerful warrior was probably on an Ikran playing air support. Despite being a Metkayina, I watched in awe as all the skimwings dived into the water at the same time and narrowly avoided the shower of bullets.
As I suspected, a shooting aircraft suddenly fell out of the air and crashed into a rock. Neytiri's work. The Metkayina warriors burst from the water to pick off each of the Sky People with skillful spears. Suits powered up. Arrows whistled by. Shouts of horror escalated. Blood was splattered. Deaths grew in number. Spears were thrown. Bodies fell into the water, never to be seen again, with weapons still in the center of their chests. Skimwings ate humans. Boats exploded into fire and ash. People dropped dead. Aircrafts fell from the sky. Guns reloaded. My people were slain.
This was war.
Shouting in rage, I forced the ocean to do my bidding. You will help us get out, NOW! The water rose like a tail out of the ocean. I put my hands apart, concentrating hard on the middle. Slice it in half! Obeying my orders, the water slashed the restraints, but they weren't strong enough. I was too exhausted. No matter what, the cuffs wouldn't split in two!
"What is that?!" Tuk screamed. "It's okay, Tuk! I'm doing it!" I assured her. I could barely hear my own voice over the sounds of fighting and things blowing up.
"Y/N!" Tsireya sounded shocked as I made a downwards slicing motion and tried to slash deeper into my restraints each time. Unfortunately, at that moment, the aircraft suddenly began speeding up and rammed into a rock island.
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!" We all screamed as were blown into the air. The cuffs were the only things keeping us from flying away. Once the worst passed, I mustered up my energy and called upon hundreds of small carnivorous fish to attack the Sky People on the aircraft.
"Attack every human and Na'vi in camo uniforms!" I ordered. "And get these things off us!"
"Wait, as bizarre as this is, tell them not to kill Spider!" Lo'ak exclaimed. I sighed in frustration. "Don't murder that one kid!"
The fish flopped onto the rail and bit down on our cuffs, hard. Their razor-sharp teeth sliced the ugly orange restraints in half at once. I could hear the people behind us screaming as small carnivorous fish chomped at their uniforms and shattered their glass to get to them.
"Maybe don't murder, just fatally injure!" I called once hearing the painful screams. I winced back hearing the devouring of the mechanical suits mixed with flesh.
"No, do murder!" Lo'ak exclaimed. He was still fuming about what happened a minute ago.
"Tey!" Tsireya suddenly shouted. I looked to see Neteyam coming up the sides of the aircraft and studying our free hands with surprise.
"Did you make those fishies help us?!" Tuk asked me fearfully. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Yes, Tuk. But I won't hurt you."
"You guys got out already? But how— OH MY GOD WHY ARE THERE SO MANY FISH WITH SHARP TEETH ON THIS PLACE?"
"That would be Y/N!" Tsireya laughed and embraced the forest boy. "I was so worried about you!"
His gaze travelled onto me for a second, lingering there, before going back to Tsireya. "You shouldn't have been worried, Reya." he remarked. "If you're on the ship and I'm not, then that says something."
"Come on, we have to go!" I reminded, ushering Tsireya and Tuk off the platform.
"Bro, hurry up!" Neteyam exclaimed, but Lo'ak shook his head and grabbed a gun.
"We gotta go get Spider."
Neteyam was already shaking his head. "No—"
"Come on, bro!" he protested. "We can't leave him!"
Neteyam hissed loudly with frustration and followed Lo'ak in. I went along, grabbing my own gun from a dead human body.
"Wait, Y/N." Lo'ak stopped. "You go back. I've already put you in enough danger, it's not safe—"
"I'm coming and you can't convince me." I snapped before he could finish. "And who's the one that can do cool stuff here?"
Lo'ak looked offended. "I can do cool stuff."
Neteyam looked more confused. "What cool stuff? Nevermind, just let her come, and let's hurry!"
We snuck into the inside of the structure quickly, since most people were still dealing with my little present.
"Check your mask, make sure it's tight." I heard a worker say.
"I'm good, dumbass." I heard Spider respond. We prowled along the tops of the walkways where mechanical paths were built. Before they could leave onto a boat, Neteyam gave the signal, and we swooped down on the surrounding workers.
I punched one, two. Three, four. Knocked one out. Hit another with a gun. Shot one. Made a carnivorous fish devour another. Next to me, Spider took the oxygen mask off a man in one swipe, and Lo'ak and Neteyam were fighting in a way that you could see they'd practiced together their whole lives.
A man I knocked down reached for his gun and almost pulled the trigger, but I slammed my own gun down in his face, swung my leg on the floor to trip him, he fell face first, and I shot him clean in the back of his head. Just like how they almost shot Lo'ak.
"Alright. Let's go." Neteyam stated, and as we snuck out, Lo'ak fell in step with me.
"That was hella cool." he whispered. "I'm also a big fan of the fish thing."
I smirked. "Thanks."
When we were clear, Spider thanked us.
"Thanks, guys." he said gratefully. He talked to me especially. "Thanks, Y/N."
"You're wel— We need to leave! Go!" I yelled as two avatars began shooting at us. Lo'ak made a move to his gun, but Neteyam pushed him along. "Come on!"
We swerved and flattened behind a wall, bullets smashing metal all around us. Somehow, we remained untouched. Neteyam grabbed Lo'ak's gun and started shooting our captors furiously.
"Go, go, go!" he yelled. I spotted the water rising in a hole near us and directed it towards the shooters.
"Drown them!" I ordered. The water pulsed out of the hole and stormed down to the two avatars. They shrieked and tried to run, but the water followed them in an organized width wherever they went. Soon, they were underwater.
Neteyam and I leaped after Lo'ak and spider into the ocean opening, but gunshots were still steadily streaming after us.
"I have no idea what you just did but weird things happen all the time now!" Neteyam yelled. Time seemed to slow as a bullet whizzed forward. I didn't know what happened. I wasn't sure what happened. All I felt was the familiar eerie sensation, before we dove into the water.
I swam around blindly, because my vision was blurring in and out of focus. I managed to spot Lo'ak's tail and followed it to air. We resurfaced to find Tsireya waiting for us on an Ilu. For some reason, pain began to shoot through my body like deadly poison. Maybe I hurt myself while jumping into the water.
"Come on! Hurry up!" She exclaimed. Her gaze landed on me, and she sighed, half in relief and half in frustration. "Y/N!"
Lo'ak and Spider were scoffing disbelievingly that they'd made it out alive. Neteyam was frowning, however, as we swam up to the surface.
"Something is wrong. Is no one hurt?"
"I can't believe none of us got shot! That's what's wrong!" Spider exclaimed. A sudden, extremely painful, as in no-words-can-even-describe agonizing sensation exploded through my entire body. I gasped. It was coming from my waist. It was almost like something had shot an hole clean through me.
It took me a second to realize, that something was a bullet.
I was shot.
✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
a/n ~ honestly, I like this chapter! Vote if you did too :D
The fighting scenes were hard to write out but I think I did well on the suspense... I think....
Okay it's late so byee I'll update soon! (Isn't this like the third time I've updated this week? Wow)
- liv_ing
xx
by the way, let's get to 1,000 votes?