nineteen. past comes biting back
THE KIDS YELLED IN BLISS AS THEY JUMPED ON THE BRANCHES OF THEIR HOME. Running through the forest with her siblings, except for Neteyam, as he was patrolling the land with their parents, and her best friend: Spider. Le'ah knew if her dad knew where they were right now, they'd get an ear full. Jake had banned parts of the forest where no one was allowed to be, such as the old shack, because of the dangers and memories the place contained.
Le'ah loved the mountains they had moved to despite the reason behind it. She loved to look down and see that she was higher than the clouds, making her feel like she was on top of the world. She felt freedom when the air blew through her braided hair, the breeze hitting her face soothingly like a lullaby to put her to sleep.
As they continued to run through, Le'ah had her bow strapped around her back as she took in her surroundings. Le'ah smirked at an hexapede—or in Na'vi, they called it a Yerik. Le'ah saw it as a competition, removing her bow from her back and lifting it in front of her whilst taking an arrow from the quiver she had, placing it on the string of her bow. As she held the arrow straight, just like her dad and mom had taught her, Le'ah squinted her left eye for a more accurate shot but was cut off when she was about to release the arrow by Kiri stepping in front of her.
Le'ah puckered her brows at her sister, watching the deer-like creature hiss at them before it ran off. The girl scoffed, shaking her head at her sister, "I was just having fun," Le'ah told Kiri, causing the older one to roll her eyes as they met back with their siblings. Le'ah saw Tuk reaching for a group of plants, enveloping her three-fingered hand. Le'ah exhaled, meeting her twin's side as she called out for her youngest sister, "Tuk, keep up!"
Le'ah didn't bother to hear out her younger sister's response before she started rushing towards the older kids. Spider spoke up, gazing at the twins, "bro, why'd you bring her anyway?"
Lo'ak halted from the question, shrugging his arms around as he turned and faced the others, "'Cause she's such a crybaby. She's all, 'I'm telling. You're not supposed to go to the battlefield. I'll tell mom if you don't let me come,'" Le'ah tried to hold on in her laugh at her brother's imitation of Tuk, whereas Spider loudly laughed. Kiri told Lo'ak to stop teasing the girl whilst Tuk stuck her tongue out to the boy.
Le'ah smirked, seeing her brother's annoyed expression and shrugged her shoulders, "you deserved that," Lo'ak went to say something to his twin sister, but couldn't as she ran ahead in front of everybody, leading them to where they found a ship caught by vines, floating in the air. The twins and Spider climbed up, observing the machinery with a tint of amazement in their eyes. Le'ah was so caught up in checking out the thing that she incoherently heard Tuk calling out from below, not knowing what she said.
Lo'ak climbed on the side, looking into the ship, and Le'ah got on all fours and slid inside. Seeing the gun that was sticking out on the side of the ship, intact with the metal as she tried to pull, she guided it to Lo'ak's head on the side and acted like she shot the boy. Lo'ak rolled his eyes, reaching in and pulling one of Le'ah's braids, causing her to wince in pain.
She dropped the gun, pouncing on Lo'ak and come colliding down from the ship and onto the branch below them. It didn't hurt but took the two by surprise. Yet, they continued to tumble on each other before they heard Tuk call out for the both of them, stating that Kiri and Spider had gone missing. With hesitance, the twins let the other go and went looking for the two that were missing.
Le'ah wasn't worried like Tuk—the youngest girl just wanted to find their sister and make sure they made it home before eclipse. Kiri was known for her free spirit, venturing off on her own as she had a thing with nature that Le'ah didn't understand. Lo'ak called out for their sister and Spider, seeing the human boy crouched next to Kiri, "Kiri!" Tuk reminded the girl that they had to get back, and the girl wasted no more time in getting up with Spider's support.
They continued making their way through the forests, trying to make it home before the moon came shining over the sun. However, Le'ah and Lo'ak paused at the same time, catching their sights on the footprints embedded in the dirt. Spider crouched to where the twins inspected the tracks whilst Kiri called out to the three, "what is it?"
"We're always supposed to be home by eclipse," Tuk spoke softly, making their way to the three.
Spider gazed at the twins, watching as their eyes carefully wandered around the area before Lo'ak spoke up, talking about the prints, "they're way too big to be human," Spider asked if it could be an Avatar, to which Lo'ak found it more likely, "maybe. They're for sure not ours," Without having to be told, Lo'ak, Le'ah and Spider got up from where they were crouched and followed where the footprints led. Kiri called out for them, asking what they were doing but was shushed by Lo'ak, "shh. Tracking."
Le'ah's eyes widened at the metal shack with plants outgrown on it. Yet, the girl gasped when she saw about six avatars standing, loaded with guys and wearing camo gear. Before the others came, she put a finger to her mouth, alerting them to shut up and get down behind the bushes, "we are never supposed to come here," Kiri stated, gazing at the twins—mostly at Lo'ak, "dad is going to ground you ... for life."
Lo'ak rolled his eyes at his sister's actions, yet Le'ah clicked her tongue, and Lo'ak gazed at her, shaking his head, "what? I mean, she's right, Lo'ak. We shouldn't have come here. You know if Neteyam was here, he'd drag our skxawng asses back to High Camp."
"Well, Neteyam isn't here," The twin brother remarked.
Le'ah blew a breath through her mouth, growing more irritated, "exactly! Neteyam isn't here, which means I'm going to get the blame for us being out here. Especially if Tuk is here!" She yelled out in a whisper, keeping her voice low to not attract the attention of the avatars, "Kiri might be the oldest here, but when does dad ever blame her for something? And you know how dad thinks I'm responsible for you because I'm older."
Lo'ak rolled his eyes, reminding the girl that she was only older by approximately two minutes. The nerves that Le'ah had were increasing as time went on, "as if dad would give a shit about that, Lo'ak! Even if it was a minute, he wouldn't care," Lo'ak gazed at his sister. He noticed how whenever Neteyam wasn't around and she was in charge of her siblings, he saw how her behaviour changed drastically. Going from a childish teenager to a responsible leader, such as Neteyam. Lo'ak knew how much the girl would look up to her bigger brother as an idol. The boy sighed, clasping a hand over her own as he felt how tense the girl was through their connection.
Almost immediately, her chest felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted. She smiled thankfully at the boy, giving him an apologetic look to which he replied with a beam of his own, gazing back to the avatars. He slightly perched up, moving closer towards the group with Spider and Le'ah by his side and his other sisters reluctantly following.
Le'ah held her bow tightly, hardening her hold every couple of seconds as a way to release her feelings. Spider spoke up, finding the place they were familiar, "bro, this is where your guy's dad and my dad fought," The boy marvelled, yet Le'ah's face contorted to a frown whilst Lo'ak cooed over Spider's dad's suit laying abandoned on the ground.
The girl shook her head, dread filling her veins, "this is also where Juniper died," Lo'ak's eyes enlarged at the realisation. How could he forget that this was where Juniper Vespera took her last breath? All to save their dad. Le'ah sighed solemnly, quickly praying to Eywa as she glanced to her brother, "call it in. Call dad."
Spider protested against the idea, but Lo'ak knew it was right, heading towards his other sisters behind the three. Lo'ak reached for the communications device he wore around his neck, calling out for their dad in the code names they were assigned, "Devil dog, this is Eagle Eye. Over," Le'ah had her earpiece in, being able to hear her father's voice on the other side, bringing some comfort towards the girl as he asked for their traffic, "I've got eyes on some guys. They look like avatars, but they're in full camo and carrying ARs. There's six of them, over."
Le'ah cursed silently to herself when her father asked where they were. Lo'ak gazed at his sister and received a nod of encouragement before he spoke, "we're at the old shack," Jake noticed the 'we' part in the sentence asking who was there with Lo'ak, "me, Le'ah, Spider, Kiri ..." He paused before saying the last name, "and Tuk."
"Son, you listen to me very carefully," Despite Jake talking with Lo'ak, Le'ah listened intently and was ready to follow any instructions given their way when she noticed Tuk cuddling in Kiri's arm. A slight expression of fear plastered on her face. She had to act responsibly, "pull back right now. Do not make a sound. Get the hell out of there. Move, copy?"
Le'ah was already a step ahead, telling everyone to get up and start backing out behind them, quietly and slowly, as Lo'ak replied to his father, "yes, sir. Moving out," Le'ah tried to ignore Kiri's voice, reminding her twin brother of the trouble he was going to be in when their father arrived. Le'ah shushed the two in the back and kept a steady eye on the scenery around. It wasn't until Tuk yelled out that brought Le'ah back to reality, quickly lifting her bow as she placed an arrow amongst the string.
She hissed, baring her canines at the man that held her little sister, reaching for her older siblings. Before Le'ah and everyone else knew it, they were surrounded by the Avatars and being held at gunpoint. Le'ah sighed in conflict, putting her weapon down as the unknown Avatars told them to. She glanced at her younger sister, nodding her head, "mawey, Tuk. Tstew," She gazed at Spider, who still held up his bow, and both of the twins told the human boy to lower it down.
Le'ah grunted as her braid was being pulled and the back of her knee was being kicked in, causing her to tumble to the floor. She landed on her knees, making eye contact with her twin brother as they felt the pain of both their queues being pulled. Tuk yelled out her sister's names, and Le'ah's heart broke as she couldn't do anything but comply with the man who held her down.
"What have we here?" A man asked. Le'ah assumed it was their leader as he eyed each of the captives. Even with Le'ah not squirming around, she felt her hair being pulled and winced, noticing a grimace placed on Lo'aks face as well. She groaned to herself, hating that whatever pain she was in, her brother had to feel. Her face dropped in fear when a gun was placed against Lo'ak's head, and Kiri's hand was extended, showcasing her four fingers.
Le'ah groaned to herself and winced as she felt the cold barrel of a gun being pressed against her temple, "look, Colonel. Check it out. Four fingers. We got a half-hybrid," The Colonel drifted his eyes from Kiri and over to Le'ah, who had her eyes tightly shut, trying to take her mind off the guns placed against her's and Lo'ak's heads. He gestured his head to one of the soldiers standing next to Le'ah, and with his help, the two men holding her down lifted her hand. Le'ah could briefly hear the protests coming from her brother, eyeing her carefully in worry.
The man smirked when Le'ah made eye contact, having the men that joined in on grabbing the Na'vi let go, and bared her teeth as she hissed. The man swung his AR around his shoulder, unravelling his knife from his waist holster and pressed it against the girl's cheek, "kehe! Ruxte!" Her siblings called, Lo'ak being the loudest, "kehe!"
Colonel smirked as he saw the girl's brave persona beginning to drop as the tip of his blade softly trailed down a scar she had on her cheek from an accident that happened when Lo'ak and her were kids. It was safe to say that Lo'ak had gotten in a lot of trouble when his parents found out that he pushed her out of a tree. As her breathing was rushed, trying to squirm away from the blade, the Colonel pulled away much to the Na'vi's and Spider's relief.
He turned towards Le'ah's twin brother, looking down at him, "show me your fingers," Le'ah hoped that Lo'ak wouldn't do anything stupid, but her prays went unheard when Lo'ak lifted up his hands, middle fingers on the display. The man chuckled darkly, "you're his, aren't you?" Just as his twin did, he hissed at the man, his tail swaying in aggravation, "you're his alright," The Colonel leaned forward, bringing Lo'ak to his feet by his queue.
Le'ah yelled out, fighting against the grip of the Avatar that held her down, "Lo'ak!" She screamed, gazing at her twin pleadingly, "kehe!" Le'ah felt her body course in pain from having Lo'ak's braid being pulled and saw the comforting gaze he sent her way, though the girl could only shake her head.
"Where is he? Huh?" The Colonel asked, referring to Jake–their father. Le'ah knew this man had to know their father from back in the day, trying to remember the stories he told them as kids, but couldn't place her mind on who he was. Though, it was like it was on the tip of her tongue.
Lo'ak spoke in his native tongue, his accent rolling off his tongue, "sorry, I don't speak English with assholes," If circumstances were different, Le'ah would be chuckling to herself, yet she was worried as the Colonel tightened his grip on Lo'ak, asking where their father was in broken Na'vi. Le'ah became rigid as the Colonel pulled out the same knife he tormented her with. Lo'ak attempted to hiss again at the man but was broken off by the pain of having his queue pulled, "really? You wanna play it this way?"
Yet, for one minute, Le'ah felt relief when Lo'ak was released only to be grabbed by the previous guy holding him until she saw the Colonel advancing towards Kiri daringly. The twins both yelled out for the man to stop, pleading for the man to not hurt her, but the Avatar paused at Spider's shouts—almost ordering the Colonel not to hurt her. The older man raised his brows, gesturing to the man to let go of the grip they held on Spider, and lowered to the human boy's level, "what's your name, kid?"
"Spider," Their best friend answered, "Socorro."
Le'ah could have sworn she had seen the flash of realisation on the Colonel's face. His face contorted to a frown, asking, "Miles?" Le'ah knitted her brows and figured out that this man was Spider's father. Miles Quaritch—the person who had killed Juniper and tried to take over Pandora. The man who almost killed their father, "well, I'll be damned. I figured they sent you back to Earth."
Spider scoffed in the man's face, keeping his glare heavy, "you can't put babies in cyro, dipshit," The Colonel was silent for a minute, not tearing his eyes away from Spider as he gestured for the guy behind him to grab ahold of the sky person once again. One of the soldiers asked what they were doing, tightening their grasp on the Na'vi and Spider.
The Colonel reached for his neck, speaking into his comms, "Iron Sky, Blue on Actual. We are standing by for extract, over. Be advised. We're bringing in high-value prisoners."
As the kids protested against the matter, being forced to their feet, the siblings could only send comforting glances their way. Lo'ak and Le'ah met eyes, gazing at each other the longest compared to everyone, feeling one another's fear. Le'ah wanted to reach for her brother and feel safe within his embrace but couldn't as she was being held back.
Le'ah just hoped that her father, mother, and elder brother would be in time before the ships came hurdling in and they were to be taken ... or worse.