CHAPTER 44
"Dad - what happened?" Neteyam asked as he approached his father. He was yet to see Erìhe headed toward them with his mother.
Jake looked at his son before handing a device to him, "Take this," he told him while pulling him by the upper arm to stand among other villagers and warriors.
Neteyam looked down at the device and his eyes widened upon seeing the alien technology. He felt the panic rising in his throat - but he chose to ignore the feeling. While allowing himself to be guided forward by his father, he inspected the chunk of metal in his hands.
It was painted red and seemed to be a sort of harpoon - he knew he would soon get to know what they were used for, but he did not even want to know. Anything that the sky people did on their planet was bad.
Erìhe and Neytiri reached the meeting point soon after most of the villagers had settled into a crowd, leaving room in front for the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik to speak.
"Did something bad happen?" Erìhe asked Neytiri. The answer she received was the shake of the head from the older woman - telling her to be quiet and listen to what was to be said next.
When Neteyam picked up on Erìhe's voice over the crowd, his eyes landed on her. "Erìhe-" he called, and was about to step in her direction when he remembered that his father needed him.
Erìhe heard him and soon his wide eyes were met with her just as large, panicked eyes. Neteyam felt unease come over him as he wished to go over to her - to hold her or just stand beside her. He wondered if she already knew what had happened, or if the fact that she did not know was what made her look so scared.
Ronal rose onto the pedestal situated in the middle of the crowd. "My spirit sister and her baby have been murdered by the sky people!" she called and was met by many gasps by the people. There was grief and determination in her voice which made the whole situation graver.
Erìhe's hand covered her mouth as she turned her head to look at Neytiri. The older woman could only look down, not even able to meet her eyes.
After her initial unwillingness to leave the forest, Neytiri had been desperate to get her family and Erìhe away from the sky people. Knowing that this had failed and the danger had only followed them here made her feel as though she had failed as a mother to her own children, and as a mother figure to Erìhe.
Erìhe drew in a shaky breath as she let her eyes scan over the crowd. Everyone present seemed either furious or distraught - she could easily understand why.
All her life Erìhe has connected with the nature and animals - just like any other Na'vi - but learning about the Tulkuns connection with the Metkayina was just entirely different. The tulkun were not animals whom you bonded with for the sake of riding or flying with them - they were family to these people.
Tonowari snarled as he spoke up, "This war has come to us!" He announced, "We knew about this hunting of our tulkun people, but it was over the horizon - far away!" He hit his spear to the ground, "Now it is here!"
His speech was met by furious cries from the people. Neytiri nudged Erìhe and together they finally walked over to Jake and Neteyam.
The minute that they had approached, Neteyam let go of the device with one hand to wrap his fingers around Erìhe's wrist. He squeezed her hand gently as he pulled her closer, turning his head to look at her and see her expression.
Erìhe could not care less that they stood right by his parents, and that anyone in the crowd could see them - no one would care if a couple of teenagers held hands in a situation like this. The moon didn't revolve around them and there was more pressing matters.
The girl turned her hand over in his grasp, intertwining her fingers with his and holding onto him tight. Her lips were pressed together as she looked around.
She could see Tsireya within the people. She was crying as Níawi, Riik'o and Aluva stood beside her. Níawi had a hand on her shoulder in hopes of providing the girl with some comfort as the others looked horrified by what the sky people had done.
It was Tsireya's mothers spirit sister who had died - her sorrow was to be expected.
There was no doubt that Tsireya had grown up close with the tulkun.
Over the chaos, Jake spoke up and tried to make himself heard, "You've gotta to understand how the sky people think," he said, stepping forward, "They don't care about the great balance."
His words were only met with more cries and snarls from the people.
"Listen - listen to him," Neteyam spoke over the people.
"The sky people are not gonna stop. This is only the beginning," Jake warned the Olo'eyktan's and Tsahik, "You've gotta tell your Tulkun to leave," he said, "You've gotta tell them to go far away!" He said to the people.
"Leave?" Ronal repeated, stepping down from the pedestal. "You live among us, and you learn nothing!"
"We will fight to protect our brothers and sisters!" A warrior said and was met by cries of approval from the others.
"No, no, no," Jake said desperately, "If you attack - if you fight - Then they will destroy you!" He yelled over everyone, "They will destroy everything that you love!" he held a hand out toward Ronal, who instinctively took a step back and placed a hand over her stomach. An uproar started when Jake finished his sentence.
Erìhe let out a shaky breath as she looked over to Neteyam at Jake's words. When she met his eyes, she was surprised to see him already looking down at her.
Tears pooled in Erìhe's eyes as everything that the sky people had done to them came rushing back into her mind. For the past months she had happily put all that behind, ignoring and forgetting the past. The first hit from reality had come when they'd overhead the Olo'eyktan speaking to Neteyam's parents, but at the time she'd been distracted by other things happening in her life.
Erìhe and been dumb to believe that she could live in blissful ignorance - that the sky people would not find them.
"Hear my words!" Jake yelled over the people, "Hear my words!"
Neteyam broke eye contact with Erìhe. "Stay calm," Neteyam desperately said to the villagers, "Stay calm! Listen to my father - he speaks the truth!"
"Damn it!" Jake seethed before stepping back to grab the device from Neteyam. With the harpoon in hand, he raced over to the pedestal and stepped up, holding the metal high above his head for everybody to see.
As if by magic - everyone fell silent.
The drop of a needle could have been heard as everyone took in the device held by Jake. "You tell the tulkun - that if they're hit by one of these, they're marked for death," Jake said as he turned to look at the people behind him as his ears angled down. "Call for me, I'll silence it," he spoke this last sentence in a defeated tone.
Erìhe looked down as she could not bear to look over at her friends who were greatly saddened by everything that's going on.
"Saving their lives, that's all that matters, right?" Jake asked, looking over to Tonowari and Ronal, "Saving your family."
There was a moment of silence before Tonowari stepped back up to the pedestal. "Tell the tulkun," he told his warriors.
"Go," Ronal added, "Go!" she urged the warriors to hurry.
Erìhe squeezed Neteyam's hand before withdrawing hers from his grasp. She offered him a sad smile before walking through the disappearing crowd over to Tsireya and the other three girls.
Neteyam looked down at his hands as Erìhe passed by him. He wanted to be there - beside her - but he understood her need to check up on her friends.
"Tsireya.." Erìhe said hesitantly as she stepped in front of the girl. Tsireya only sniffled as she looked up at her friend. When Erìhe held her arms out to offer her a hug, she did not waste any time before throwing herself into her embrace.
Riik'o sighed sadly before leaning against Tsireya, wrapping her arms around the two girls. Níawi and Aluva shared sad looks before they too moved in to join the hug and provide Tsireya with the comfort and assurance that she needed in that moment.
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A/n:
Can someone tell me why the fuck my fyp is full of sportacus edits
And y'all - next chapter will be Sunday or Monday I'm so sorry 😔🤞