^left is Merq'ena and right is Viryn, I'm not that consistent 😅(also a WIP so have mercy)
Merq'ena held on tightly onto Neteyam and Kiri as her head was fully submerged. She blinked a couple times, trying to get her irritated eyes to get used to the salty water quicker. The ocean was dark. No light thanks to the fire and destruction. But she could see freckles. Kiri squeezed her hand to bring her mind back into focus. Merq'ena turned to her, at that distance Kiri noticed the redness of her scleras and the sorrowful look in her eyes.
Kiri turned to Neteyam, her brother shook his head. Neither wanted to talk about it. The smaller girl looked around. The ship was slowly floating down to the ground without even a glimpse of either parent or Tuk.
There was a series of sonorous trills from the deep. The three Na'vi easily recognized the noise and swam towards it. An ilu. Merq'ena narrowed her eyes at the shape on its back. Tsireya? As it moved closer it moved so it could pick up all for of them towards the surface.
"Lo'ak, what are you doing here?" Merq'ena asked as she wiped the water off of her face. "You're supposed to be with Viryn." Neteyam nearly scowled. "Viryn? What happened to Viryn?" Kiri asked. "Is she ok?" Spider asked afterwards. Merq'ena turned and looked at him. A silent glare that was a threat all on its own. She was never fond of him, but she was tolerant and sometimes even cordial to him.
But not anymore, that tolerance was held on by a thread for Kiri. "Where's dad and mom? Lo'ak looked at each of their faces. "Where's Tuk?""They're in the ship. They haven't surfaced." Neteyam welcomed the change of topic. "We have to look for them." Merq'ena looked over to the now fully sunk ship. "We'll look for mom." Kiri said as she looked to Merq'ena. The tattooed girl nodded. "I'll go look for dad, you stay in case they surface." Neteyam looked at Lo'ak.
When the older boy moved to dive down Lo'ak grabbed his arm. "I'm coming too." "I'll be fine." Neteyam tried to pull away but Lo'ak but his younger brother held on. "She said to watch your back." The two looked at each other, a silent conversation that could only be understood by the two brothers. Neteyam pulled himself out of the water and onto the ilu.
The two groups split, Spider decided to go with Lo'ak and Neteyam on the ilu while Merq'ena followed Kiri as she dove deep into the water. As they got deeper Merq'ena could see the faint glow of life. A group gill mantle. They looked like magical flying wings as the flapped without fear near the ocean floor. Kiri gently pulled two from the group and sent one over to Merq'ena. Tsireya had shown them the gill mantles and said that they gave those who bonded with them a steady oxygen supply. Smart. Merq'ena attached her queue to the centre and watched as the connection made the creature glow brighter.
Merq'ena breathed in the oxygen, it was very different from breathing just air. But she got used to it quickly. Kiri perched onto a ledge of a piece of the ship. The air around her had changed. Merq'ena watched carefully from a slight distance away. Kiri lifted a hand as if she was reaching towards the sky. Her freckles we're glowing so brightly Merq'ena could see her from the distance. They flashed at her like they were all blinking simultaneously.
A school of glowing golden fish swam past Merq'ena from behind like a gust of wind. They pushed past her braids and some brushed against her limbs as they moved to Kiri. They followed her hand movements as if they were hypnotized by the motion. Merq'ena watched it with wide eyes as she felt a chill run down her spine.
"Are you seeing this Viryn?" She turned with a smile on her face. The girl froze. Viryn wasn't there. The smile dropped. Merq'ena quickly shut her mouth and turned back to Kiri. The world seemed to bend to surround them, a little bubble that was its own little world. Merq'ena reached the knife on her back to gingerly run her thumb against the worn leather. Eywa had never felt closer. No matter where she looked she there no owner of the presence she felt.
Kiri looked so otherworldly. Merq'ena didn't feel that she was in danger but she could feel power radiating from Kiri. Though the sight was truly breathtaking, Merq'ena felt al little nervous with the amount of time her girlfriend was spending just waving with fish.
Eventually Kiri pointed to the ship and the large cloud of fish she had amassed surged down to the ship. Merq'ena waited for her before the two followed the fish deep into the ship. They pulled themselves even fast using the furniture that were firmly attached to the ground. The fish tickled Merq'ena's ears as the swam with them. The whole ship would be dark if it were not for the warm glow of the fish. They coloured everything gold like small fires that bent and flickered with each movement. Kiri gestured for them to surface with a hand and swam up. There was a large air pocket at top that made Merq'ena see who they found.
"Tuk! Neytiri!" Merq'ena quickly rushed over to the mother and daughter. "Merq! Kiri!" Tuk swam to them first while Neytiri let out a sigh of relief. "We've got you." Merq'ena helped Tuk cling onto her and held onto Neytiri's hand. "Everything will be alright sister." Kiri spoke with an unusual tone. "Mom, I'll give you these." She pulled off her gill mantle and handed it to Neytiri.
The woman turned and they placed it onto her back. "Follow us." Merq'ena waited for Tuk to move close to Kiri before looking to Neytiri. The woman sadly smiled and cupped her cheek. "I'm fine." Merq'ena tried to brush off the concern in the woman's eyes. "We have to keep up." Neytiri nodded once and the two dove after Kiri and Tuk.
The trail of fish made escaping the ship so much easier. Merq'ena found herself staying behind to make sure Neytiri and Tuk were able to keep up with Kiri. They followed closely with the school of glowing fish as they wove past the passages and corridors. A few bodies caught their attention but they continued on. They needed to get out and make sure they could be there to wait for the boys and Jake.
Merq'ena surfaced last and pulled off the bill mantle. The creature gracefully swam away, it moved like how something would fly with flowing strokes of its beautiful wing like fins. "Ma Jake!" She turned to see the boys resting close by. The girls swam over to them. Their exhaustion finally setting in now that their adrenaline had been used up.
Lo'ak pulled Merq'ena onto the platform like thing. The tattooed girl pulled her braids away from her face to check on each of the faces. Neytiri hugged Jake while Neteyam checked in on Kiri and Tuk. Merq'ena put a hand on Lo'ak's shoulder as a sort of anchor. "I'm fine." The boy said but still returned her hand. She worked hard to catch her breath. It was over. She didn't need to fight anymore. Now she could just breathe. There was a groan that startled Merq'ena. She turned to her right and smiled lightly to see who it was. "Payakan." The girl let out a sigh of relief and patted the tulkun's side.
"Everyone ok?" Jake asked as he looked into the eyes of each of his children. He paused at Neteyam and Merq'ena. The two looked the most exhausted with lowered ears and red eyes. Neteyam nodded his head in small shakes but looked away from his father. Not wanting to worry his parents or cause more stress to their lives. "We're good." Merq'ena managed to say with a weak voice.
Kiri looked at both Merq'ena and Neteyam. She could feel the change in their demeanours. But was it the right time to ask?
Payakan swam over to the rocky platform. He halted when the water became too shallow for him to go further. The sense of relief was replaced with a sense of dread. The haunting sight of Visryn going quiet was so fresh in her mind. Her sister's eyes fading away. Merq'ena pushed herself off of Payakam's fin to climb onto the rock. The world was beginning to wake by bathing the, all in orange. Warmth began to reach onto her skin as the day was beginning. Tired. Merq'ena's knees nearly buckled beneath her as she was fully out of the water. She was so tired. The fight and then the search had taken nearly all of her energy.
When she stood up fully on the platform her eyes widened in shock.There was no body. The puddle of blood was still right in the middle, no doubt Viryn's, but there was no body. Merq'ena looked around in panic. The blood puddle still being there meant that the waves couldn't have taken Viryn away. But if not the ocean what did? And where was Tsireya?
Neteyam pulled himself onto the rock platform next. "Where's Viryn?" Merq'ena asked as she turned to Lo'ak. The younger boy furrowed her brows at the question as if it was absurd but when he looked at where Viryn's body was supposed to be he too saw nothing. :I don't know." The boy looked around the platform. "Where's Tsireya?" He also asked. Kiri narrowed her eyes at the puddle of blood. "Maybe she left." Kiri tried to suggest. Not understanding the group's sudden descent into worry. "Hey." They turned over to see Spider standing there.
Merq'ena hissed at Spider as she charged at him. "Whoa!" Kiri grabbed her arm before she got too close to the human boy. "Where is she? Did your dad or one of his underlings take her?" Merq'ena pointed a threatening finger at Spider. "Hey hey, let's not start a fight." Lo'ak grabbed Merq'ena's other arm. "You're telling me that his dad has been hunting us and no one was going to talk about it?" Merq'ena snarled as she pulled both her arms away from the both of them.
"He's been galavanting around with that demon and helped him set fire to multiple villages." Merq'ena snarled. "I didn't help him-." Spider tried to defend himself. "No? Well the victims sure had a lot to say about the human boy who could speak Na'vi." Spider glared at Merq'ena but did not move from his spot. In a fight she would pulverize him even if she was in a good mood. Which she most certainly wasn't. "Easy." Jake pulled Merq'ena further away from Spider. He looked at the human boy with an apologetic look.
"We are not in the best of mind." Merq'ena narrowed her eyes at Jake. "I'm well enough of mind to say-." "Merq'ena." Neteyam called out. "Let's just try and find Viryn." Merq'ena pulled away from Jake. "Maybe Tsireya took her to the village." Lo'ak suggested to turn the conversation in that direction. Merq'ena looked back at Spider, her nose scrunched as she stared down at him. Kiri tugged Merq'ena by her hand. "Let's get back." The shorter girl stated. Merq'ena clenched her jaw but did as asked.
When the village was back in sight Merq'ena rushed to get to the shore. She needed to make sure that the RDA did not have her sister. No matter what.
Merq'ena forced herself to run through the knee deep water. Tsireya who saw them coming ran over to her. "You ok?" The taller girl asked as she checked Tsireya for wounds. "Everything's fine, I brought Viryn to mother." The rest of the Sully family made it to shore. The sand slowing their speed but the urgency did not escape their eyes.
"Why?" Neteyam asked. "Wait what?" Kiri asked with a furrowed brow. "Is Viryn ok?" Tuk asked equally confused but worried. "I wasn't sure but when Lo'ak left I thought I saw her breathe." Tsireya said with hope in her eyes. "Ok someone needs to explain what's going on, did Viryn get hurt?" Kiri asked while looking at Lo'ak. "Her wounds were severe and she lost a lot of blood. But I got her here as quickly as I could." Tsireya held up her hands to gesture to the Sully family to be less worried.
"Take us to her." Neytiri almost ordered. Tsireya nodded and began to lead them through the village. They moved in a rapid group with anxieties running high. Neteyam whispered prayers under his breath as they could see the tent where the Tsahik operated. Merq'ena rushed past Tsireya and towards what the Tsahik was hovering over.
"Viryn?" Her voice trembled as she saw the lying body. Viryn's looked like she was asleep with her limbs on either side and her eyes closed. Her hair had been neatly tucked behind her ears and was nearly dry. "She is not awake." Ronal answered solemnly. Neteyam crouched next to Visryn's head and and checked her neck to feel for a pulse. "It is there, but very faint." The Tsahik did not move to look from from dressing the wound. Her skilled hands wrapping a true bandage around the leg. Neytiri moved next to her son to inspect the girl. "Oh thank you great mother." She whispered as her eyes watered. "She is very weak. Her soul may have already departed."
"What does that mean?" Merq'ena asked the Tsahik. Ronal looked back to the girl, her lips pressed into a stern line. "Though her body may heal, she may never open her eyes again."
Jake gestured for Tuk and Kiri to stay as he rushed to get to their tent. He needed to call Norm before it was too late.