𝒊. 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆
𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘...
and my cousins and i were spotters. i never join the raids. i stay home with my brother and help tend to the ikran. but today, brother jake said that there is supposed to be a huge haul of supplies coming in for the sky people. and he needed all the help he could get. you may guess what happened next.
basically, all we had to do was watch and report. my eyes wandered over the many omaticaya quickly, taking the resources such as guns, bombs, metal parts, first aid, and a bunch of junk.
my older cousin neteyam was watching the skies. insuring that no one was to us attack from above.
"bro! we have got to get down there!" my younger cousin lo'ak purposed. he was supposed to be watching the ikran, but he must have gotten distracted by all the movement below us.
"no way! dad will skin us!" neteyam voiced. i glanced over at the two and sighed. "lo'ak it is too dangerous. we should obey our orders."
he rolled his eyes and steered his ikran in the direction of the raid despite our protests. "don't be a wuss!" he teased, flying away from the two of us heading towards the other omaticaya.
"lo'ak! get back here, you!-" neteyam called out for him. but it was too late. he was too close to the ground to hear him. i heard a small groan from neteyam before he was following behind lo'ak. in that small window of time, so much had gone so wrong. i watched as the two landed in unison. norm was reaching into a container which- to my surprise was full of guns.
he handed one to lo'ak, and he began posing with it. i rolled my eyes and reluctantly followed behind neteyam.
i landed roughly on the ground and quickly disconnected my queue with my ikran, and i ran over to lo'ak.
he pointed the gun in the air and let he let out a war cry. i put my hand over it and pointed it downwards. his eyes slightly widened he was too indulged in his own fantasies to realize i was there with them.
"do you even know how to use it?" neteyam asked lo'ak. a small grin appeared on lo'ak's face, and he cocked the gun, pointing it back up. "dad taught me."
"ngenga liar! (you liar!) po would ke'u teach ngenga of all na'vi tsakem. (he would never teach you of all na'vi that.)" i told him neglecting i was subbing some english words for na'vi. i tend to do that when i am upset.
lo'ak's eyes landed on me with the words. "how would you know?"
i gagged instinctively at his response and said. "oe omum taweyka oe omum ngenga! (i know because i know you!)"
"we don't have time for this. we can talk about this later! pxoe tìkin tsonta hum! (we need to leave!)"
suddenly, my ears twitched impulsively. i heard engines from above and immediately grabbed neteyam and lo'ak's wrists. "what are y-"
"something is coming, and we need to go now!" i explained to them. i began pulling them in the direction of our ikran. "i know it's noisy out here bu-"
"gunships in! fall back!" Brother Jake said over the comms. But before I knew it, missiles and rocket launchers were headed in our direction. due to the impact of the attack i was sent flying into the air.
once my body met the ground again, i was badly hurt. the impact of my fall was bad. my head was bleeding, and my knees were sore. i couldn't get up even if i wanted to. my ears snapped up once more, and i heard a familiar voice.
"lìwä?! is that you?" I slowly turned my head in the direction of the noise, and it was brother jake, who got close toward me. inspecting me for a second. "this is bad..." i heard him say. "come on, let's go." He said, picking me up and putting me on his back. tightly securing my arms and legs.
i do not remember much after this. i do know that we found lo'ak, neteyam, and a few other omaticaya people involved in the raid. we were given orders to fall back and head home. i flew on the back of neteyam's ikran because of how disoriented i was, and my ikran aiö flew home alone with the rest of us.
once wr arrived at the Hallelujah Mountains neteyam, I mounted his ikran next to aiö.
he disconnected his queue from his ikran and helped me off of it. he wrapped my arm over his neck to support me while i walked. the both of us walked over to walk over to brother jake with lo'ak lagging behind us as the three of us prepared for probably the worst scolding thus far.
"the three of you are supposed to be spotters! You spot and call the bogeys FROM A DISTANCE!" He looked over at the three of us and yelled. "get here!" my eyes hovered over him, making me stare directly at me.
neteyam is only older by a week, but the two of us are the same age. meaning that most of this scolding will be directed toward both of us. "Pay attention!"
i watched as our family approached us from behind brother jake. kiri arrived with tuk, sister neytiri, lau (my brother), and my mom.
once they got closer to us, kiri's eyes widened at the sight of all three of us. "what happened!" she asked, grabbing neteyam's arm and inspecting the wounds. which ultimately distracted us from the scolding.
"lìwäpìtx!" my mother called out for me. my eyes perked up at her. she walked over to me and cupped my face. "what happened while you and the boys were out there?!"
"i-..."
"we abandoned our post. and there was a gunship... we didn't make it out in time, sister lakuya." neteyam explained to her.
"kiri-, can you go help your grandmother with the wounded?" brother jake asked his eldest daughter. "my brother is wounded." she said as lau came up behind her, looking over her shoulder. "are you guys okay??" he asked.
"doing great, cuz." lo'ak said sarcastically.
as kiri's mouth was agape as if she was about to say something, but she closed it.
then my mother spoke. "please, lau, kiri, go help grandmother and take tuk with you."
"he's gonna come! please go!" upon hearing this, kiri rolled her eyes and dropped Neteyam's arm. she held Lau's hand as she left with him while tuk followed behind.
brother jake watched the trio, making sure they were far enough away from us before he began. before he started, neteyam spoke. "dad- sir... I take full responsibility."
"yeah, you do! because you're the older brother, act like it!" brother jake then shifted his gaze toward me. "lìwä you too! i understand that this is your first day in the field, but you are 15! you know the expectations by your age."
"jake. your son and niece are actually bleeding." sister neytiri said, coming to our defense.
"mom, it's fine." neteyam said, lowering his head. "what do you have to say for yourself?" Brother jake asked me.
neteyam nudged my hip with his, and stood there with my mouth opened agape. "i do apologize... i should have stopped him."
"... neteyam, lìwä go wash that paint off your face. and go get patched up by your grandmother. dismissed..."
the two of us walked away with my arm, still adorning neteyam's shoulders. "neteyam..." i called for him. he hummed.
"𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬..."