thirty. thankful for my sister
QUARITCH EXAMINED THE HOSTAGES TIED AGAINST THE RAILING. Although, his attention mainly pointed towards Lo'ak and Le'ah. He saw the similarities between the two, realisation crossing his mind. They were twins. The man smirked, chuckling at the Na'vi. The kids diverted their attention back to the man, seeing him getting closer.
Quaritch crouched, staring into the eyes of Le'ah. Her chest rose heavily, meeting his eyes with a sharp glare of her own. He grasped her chin, her posture slightly faltering. Lo'ak got riled up at the sight, pushing against the handcuffs harshly—enough to leave bruises, yet that was the least of his concern.
He yelled for the man to let her go, baring his fangs with the deadliest stare he could conjure up. Whenever he saw his twin in danger, Lo'ak would never feel anger like he did. And the same went with Le'ah. It was proven when Ao'nung had left him beyond the reef to fend for himself, punching the boy as she threatened his life if anything were to happen to her twin brother.
"Looks like Jake's genes are stronger than I thought," He removed his rough grasp on the girl's chin, causing her to steer away from him, clenching her jaw to rid the feeling of his hands gripping her, "not only the extra finger, but twins," Lo'ak and Le'ah frowned, gazing at the man with confusion. Quaritch practically laughed in their face at the sight, "oh, Jake never told you? About his brother? His twin brother?"
The twin's eyes widened, feeling their chest becoming heavy. Their father had a twin? Questions ran through their head at a very fast pace, not leaving a moment of peace. Le'ah shook her head, trying to make sense of the situation, yet came out more confused than ever. She felt the slightest bit of betrayal. If her father had a twin, why wouldn't he tell them?
Quaritch stood to his full height, continuously snickering to himself. The twins were so confused that they hadn't noticed the man unravel his knife from his holster, "if one of you were to get hurt, would the other feel it?" He asked, yet no one answered. No one even spared a gaze his way. The Colonel inched forward, shrugging his shoulders, "guess we'll have to find out."
Before any of the captured Na'vi could see what he was doing, Le'ah screamed at the sudden pain rushing up her arm. The burning feeling pulsing in her blood. Her eyes dropped to where the pain originated from, the yells of siblings and friends drowning out as she saw the large gash going down her arm. She peered at Quaritch, the culprit of her wound, seeing the knife dripping with her rich substance in his grasp.
Quaritch wasn't looking at her though his eyes bared into Lo'ak. He noticed the grimace placed on the boy's face, his gaze switching between his arm and Le'ah. The man sadistically smirked, "shit, would you look at that? It did work!" Le'ah shook her head, staring at him in disbelief when she could hear the joy laced in his tone. How could someone that sick find happiness at a time like this?
Le'ah was distracted by trying to ignore the pain that she hadn't heard the other Avatars on the ship calling for Quaritch. The man peered at his fellow soldiers, gazing in their line of sight to see the people of the Metkayina and Jake staring down at the ship mounted on their creatures. The Sully girl only realised this when she heard the sound of her little sister's voice screaming out for her dad.
Quaritch gazed at Jake's kids, tearing the communication device around Lo'ak's neck and placing it on his own, "Jake, tell your friends to stand down. You want your kids back? You come out alone," Le'ah moved her eyes onto the open water, seeing the whole Metkayina clan feet away from the ship with their father leading them. She shook her head subtly, trying to get her message across to her dad, "you know better than to test my results."
Le'ah tore her gaze away from the Na'vi in front when she saw Tsireya and Tuk panicking from her side vision. She glanced at Lo'ak, seeing the gun being directed to his head, the trigger ready to be triggered at any moment. Le'ah called for Lo'ak, fighting against the cuffs tied around her wrists as Tsireya did the same.
As Le'ah increased the pressure she applied to the cuffs, pulling at them for dear life in hopes for them to come flying off, she felt the phantom of a Glock being pressed against her head. Now Le'ah and Lo'ak both had guns aimed at their head, yet the twins weren't scared for them. They were scared for each other. Scared for their father as they watched him grumble under his breath, lowering his weapon.
They were scared of what Quaritch was capable of as he continued to speak to Jake, "I took you under my wing, Jake, and you betrayed me. You killed your own. Good men. Good women. I will not hesitate to execute your kids as I did with Miss Vespera," Le'ah shook her head, knowing that Quaritch's words definitely had an effect on Jake. And as time passed on, the head of the gun aimed at her head being pressed harder against her temple, she realised Jake coming forwards slowly.
Le'ah heard the chatters of Quaritch and his men, yet the teenager paid no attention to them, solely focused on her dad. She wanted to yell out for him, tell him to turn around and don't worry about them, but she knew there wasn't a word that could be said that would change Jake's mind about saving his kids.
She felt anger bubbling in her blood, peering at her twin brother and seeing him growl under the hold of the artillery pointed towards him. Although, Lo'ak's eyes were pointed at her. The gun on her head. He couldn't care about the weapon towards him, but when it came to Le'ah, he wanted to kill the person threatening her life.
However, distracting them from Jake coming forward and the guns pointed towards their head, Payakan dived out of the water, flipping them onto the ship, causing a smile to reach the Na'vi's faces. Tuk called out the name of the Tulkun, joy in her tone. Le'ah gazed at Lo'ak, relief written on her expression, yet as Payakan's body came collapsing down onto the ship, the tied-up Na'vi rocked from the force.
Le'ah cursed under her breath, peering back to the Tulkun and realised that the sky people were shooting at him. The Sully girl took notice of one of the sky people standing near the kids, aiming his gun towards Payakan and shouting to Lo'ak. The boy looked at his twin's gaze of sight, finding the sky person she gestured to. He nodded his head briefly, bringing up his leg and connecting it with the back of the human.
Lo'ak called for Payakan, calling him brother, to which the Tulkun heard and brought his fin down harshly, smashing it down onto the sky person. Lo'ak cheered, watching the scene unfold in front of him with wary eyes. Le'ah pointed her attention back to where her father watched, perching up on his skimming–gun held tightly in his grasp—as he and the Metkayina clan swiftly swam towards them.
Battle cries littered the air, things were being flown around the ship from every direction, rocking back and forth from the pressure it held.
"Sully's inbound. Keep an eye on him!" Quaritch's voice made Le'ah turn towards him, and a heavy glare settled on her face. She inched forward, watching as the Colonel left on his ikran, taking to the air and following the ships already in flight. Le'ah began to pull on the restraints around her bruised wrists, trying to break free. Her siblings and Tsireya follow in pursuit, hoping for them to break.
Yet, as they wouldn't come off, Le'ah turned her sight back to the air and tried to get a sight of Quaritch. Though she saw an arrow come down from the clouds, the ship that the weapon had come in contact with collapsing down. She observed the culprit, a yell leaving her throat as she saw the woman on her ikran, "mom!"
But Le'ah was taken away from the sight when the ship went hurdling forward at a fast pace, coming in contact with a rock beneath. Tsireya, Tuk, and the twins floated in the air from the cuffs, holding onto the railing for extra security, to being dropped back down. From the harsh setting, Le'ah felt her arm begin to burn again. She gazed at the wound, realising her blood painted her arm all the way through.
Lo'ak felt the sudden pain, peered at Le'ah and sighed at the sight of her arm that her eyes seemingly burned into. He wanted to grasp her, bring her back to the village and take her to the closest healer he could find as he didn't know just how severe the wound was—his nerves getting the best of him.
Le'ah diverted her attention off her arm when she saw Tuk struggle in her peripheral vision, gazing at the others, "are you guys okay?" They all seemed to nod in response, beginning to tug at the cuffs once more with as much strength as they could manage.
"Neteyam!" Tuk's gleeful yell tore Le'ah away from the cuffs and over to her big brother. A smile of relief and thankfulness that her brother was okay filled her face. Neteyam gazed at the twins, his face contorted with worry when he saw the blood dripping from Le'ah's arm, "hey, baby twins, you need some help?"
Neteyam was quick to rush in and cut the restraints of Tsireya and Tuk, ordering the older girl to get his baby sister off the ship. Lo'ak yelled at the boy, telling him to hurry up. Despite hearing Lo'aks urgency, Le'ah was glad to see her brother as he cut the restraints, his eyes glued onto her arm. She dove into his arms, placing her head on his shoulder as she whispered, "I'm okay, don't worry about my arm. I'm glad you're here."
Again, Lo'ak yelled with impatience, staring at his siblings with pointed eyes. Le'ah rolled her eyes at her twin brother's antics, letting go of Neteyam and allowing him to release the cuffs around his wrists, "who's the mighty warrior, huh? Come on, say it."
Lo'ak groaned at his brother, finally being able to lift his hands from the railing whilst Neteyam placed a hand on Le'ah's lower back, guiding her to the side of the ship when he said for them to go. Le'ah gazed behind her, realising that Lo'ak ran the other way, calling out his name.
The boy grabbed one of the guns that were abandoned by the dead sky people littering the ship, gazing at his twin and elder brother, "they've got Spider. We've got to get him," Le'ah frowned, her brows knitting together. Spider was here? If Lo'ak had seen the boy, how hadn't she? Maybe she was too busy being entrapped by all the mayhem that succumbed to the place.
She looked at Neteyam, seeing the conflicted expression plaster. She bit her lip, exhaling sharply, "Neteyam, he's been with us our whole lives. If it was one of us, then we wouldn't hesitate. Lo'ak's right, we have to get him," The said boy gazed at his twin sister, a thankful smile plastered on his face as she agreed with him, defending his choice.
Like she had always done since day one. Yet, he couldn't say the same about Neteyam as he shook his head slightly, "come on, bro. We can't leave him," Neteyam grumbled to himself at Lo'ak's urge, quickly following the twins as they ran off inside the ship, and when Le'ah turned her head back, she smiled in accomplishment when she saw her elder brother trailing after them and took his place in front.
As the siblings managed their way through the ship, they climbed to the top from getting caught. They paused in their place, waiting for the sky people to walk by before they continued, coming to the end and staying crouched. Lo'ak remained to hold the gun in his hold whilst Neteyam and Le'ah grasped their knives. Le'ah pointed towards the group of incoming sky people, seeing Spider standing in the middle, swarmed.
Neteyam was the first to jump down, pushing away the unexpected sky people. The twins quickly followed in their brother's trail, using the head of the knife to knock them on their heads, pushing them away and dropping them from the railing close by. Le'ah was focused on the sky person in front of her that she hadn't noticed the human behind her, reaching for his weapon and aiming it at her, ready to pull the trigger.
It wasn't until Lo'ak noticed that he beat the man to it, shooting him dead. Le'ah turned around, seeing Lo'ak with his ears pinned to his head, his eyes examining the sight as he stepped back from the pressure of the gun being shot. She gazed at the boy, "are you sure dad taught you how to use a gun, or were you just saying that?"
Spider called out for them, hurrying them to leave. Le'ah gazed at her best friend—the one she hadn't seen for a long time and her lips turned upwards at the sight of the boy. She brought him in for a quick side hug, slapping him against his chest, "honestly, I missed you, bro."
Neteyam noticed the two falling behind, calling out for them. Le'ah led Spider first, staying behind as her eyes darted around the place, anxious that an Avatar or sky people were going to pop out from any direction.
They jumped down a flight of steps, reaching the open part of the ship where sunlight beamed in from above. Le'ah briefly heard Spider thank them, yet she didn't pay attention to him as she squinted her eyes behind them, noticing an Avatar holding his gun up at the sight of the four. Lo'ak was quick to match the action, but Neteyam lowered the weapon, guiding them to a wall where they hid for cover as shots rang out the place.
Neteyam gazed at the weapon in his little brother's grasp, snatching it from his hands willingly, "give me that!" As Neteyam shot at the Avatars, he gestured towards the open railing close to them leading to the ocean below, ordering, "go, go, go!" Le'ah hesitated, not wanting to leave her elder brother, though when she felt Lo'ak grasp her uninjured arm hurriedly, she allowed him to usher her to the railing, quickly jumping off.
Le'ah emerged into the water, ignoring the sting she felt when the substance met with the wound on her arm. She quickly broke to the surface, gazing up at where Neteyam still was. At the sound of Lo'ak and Spider cheering at their success, she couldn't help the relief build in her chest, but as she saw a figure come flying down from the railing, realising how unsteady his form was, the relief was fast to dissolve into worry.
She swam towards the figure, her brows furrowing when she noticed his hand pressed against his chest, and her eyes widened at the blood painting the water—blood that wasn't hers. Le'ah helped Neteyam out of the water, keeping his head at bay when she noticed him to struggle to keep afloat. Her hearing was tuned, ringing through her head as she distantly heard the callings of Lo'ak, Tsireya and Spider.
Neteyam closed his eyes shut, trying to block out the pain that radiated from his chest. He spoke hoarsely, saying words that brought dread into Le'ah's stomach, "you skxawng! I'm shot."