(Hi! Thank you for reading my story :) Neteyam and my oc are 18.)
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The forest embraced me, soft grass supporting my weight as I walked through the brush. Beautiful plants surrounded me on all sides, the small chittering of animals filling the air. I knew I was dreaming right away, as dreams of this unknown forest weren't unusual to me.
I walked aimlessly forward, letting my hands brush against the flowers and plants as I moved. My ears twitched as a branch snapped behind me, but I didn't feel scared at all.
I knew it was him, and a sense of calm filled my chest. He visits my dreams often, although I didn't know his name.
"Hello again," I whisper, turning around to face the man in front of me. A small smile curled onto my lips, my tail twitching in delight at seeing him.
He didn't speak, but his eyes softened as we looked at each other. He was a bit taller than me, adorned with dark blue stripes and glowing yellow eyes.
This was far from our first encounter, as we had become sort of friends within my dreams. He often showed up within the forest, following me and walking with me in silence. He's never spoken to me despite my attempts at talking to him, only gifting me with soft gazes and silent company.
I took a step closer to him, extending my hand out to the Na'vi. He looked down at my hand and back up at my eyes, a gentle smile gracing his face as his large hand slipped into mine.
I curled my fingers around his hand, turning around and pulling him in tow with me. We quickly walked through the forest together, him following close behind me. I could feel his gaze on me but I didn't dare turn around, as I was used to his intense stares during our encounters.
We reached a river and I let go of his hand to sit down next to the water, patting the space next to me for him. The water was beautiful, a sparkling blue with flowers and other water plants floating on the surface.
I kept my gaze on the water, watching the current as it flowed effortlessly. I felt him sit next to me, his braids swishing softly as he adjusted himself.
Leaning my legs forward, I dipped my feet into the water, shivering at the cool wetness. This action began to snatch me away from the tranquillity of my dream world, and I looked at the boy next to me in a panic as I felt myself begin to wake up. I reached a hand out to touch him again but it was too late, the world around me began to blur.
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Cool water gently lapped at my feet, waking me from my sleep. My eyes slowly opened, my hand quickly reaching up to shield them from the intense sun shining down on me.
Sitting up, I realized I had fallen asleep on the beach again, my feet close enough to the water's edge that it could reach me as it rocked into my legs once more.
So you were what stole me from my dream, I thought bitterly, glaring at the small waves.
The ocean seemed to play back with me, a larger wave crashing onto the shore and splashing up to my thighs.
I glared at the water as my mind drifted back to my dream, although it was becoming hazy now. No matter how many times I met that boy in my mind, his face was always blurry and unknown to me whenever I woke up. The forest, similar to the boy, was a stranger to me. I've only ever known the warm beaches of Awa'atlu.
"Nyla! Are you just going to glare at the water all day?" A light voice reached my ears, making them perk up. "There are visitors!"
I looked to my left to see Tsireya bounding towards me, her hand raised up as she waved me over.
Visitors?
I slowly stood up, brushing the sand off of my thighs and my tail. It swished behind me leisurely as I walked towards Tsireya, although mentally I was trying to make sure it didn't come off too agitated.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, tilting my head to the side as we fell instep with each other.
Tsireya pointed into the sky, and my gaze followed. A small gasp left my mouth at the sight, beautiful winged creatures flew in the skies, circling slowly over the village.
I've never seen such animals before, but I've heard stories of them throughout my life. Ikrans, I thought, still gazing up at them. I counted five in the air as we walked into the shallow ocean water. We were a bit a way from the main village, and the fastest way to get there would be by swimming.
Although, I disliked swimming.
I wasn't like the other Metkayina Na'vi, as I wasn't born in the village to begin with. No one knows where I'm originally from or who my parents are, my only origins being that I was found washed up on the shore by Tonowari when I was around five years old.
I didn't resemble the people I lived with either, although I soon learned through Tonowari that I had a similar appearance of a forest Na'vi. My tail wasn't fin shaped like Tsireya's, but it was skinny and has a tuft of hair at the end. My skin lacked the sea green hue to it, instead it was a blue color, with darker blue stripes covering my entire body.
My only difference from the forest Na'vi, as I've been informed, were my light purple eyes. I didn't have the standard glowing yellow eyes that the forest navi had, nor the soft blue eyes of the Metkayina clan.
The clan did their best to embrace me, although not everyone showed me kindness. I grew up on these shores, learning to live like a Metkayina as best I could, although it always felt like I had a hole in my chest. Perhaps a longing for the life and family that was taken from me.
A small tug to my hand made me snap out of my thoughts, and I mumbled an apology to Tsireya as she looked at me impatiently.
"Let's go Nyla, I don't want to miss it." She whined, yanking my hand harder.
I followed her into the water, our hands disconnecting as we dove under the surface. Tsireya was considerably faster than I was, but I understood that we had biological differences that contributed to that.
I watched as her tail swished back and forth as she swam, her figure becoming increasingly smaller as she got closer to the village.
Once I finally reached the shore, the visitors were already on the beach, their large Ikrans seated on the sand. The entire village seemed to gather around the new people, the sound of questions and chattering filled the air. Tsireya was already next to Ao'nung, her brother, and I seemed to be the last one to arrive.
I stood up in the water, slowly walking to the dry land as I looked at the new arrivals. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of their darker blue skin and stripes, bright yellow eyes, and thin tails.
Forest Na'vi?
I kept my eyes trained on the family as I walked up to Tsireya, standing next to her. There was a large male, the father I assumed, with his mate and what seemed to be their four children.
The mother had a fierce air to her, she was beautiful and looked powerful. Her mate was tall and muscular, my curiosity increasing as I noticed he had five fingers instead of the usual four. His younger son had the same amount of digits, and I scanned his face before realizing that his gaze was on Tsireya.
I hid my smile, making a mental note to tease her about it later.
I continued my examination as I looked over the two daughters, both cute and looked displeased to be here. The youngest one looked fearful, her big eyes taking everything in. My gaze finally drifted to the last visitor, a shiver running through my body when I realized he was already staring at me.
His gaze was soft but firm, his amber eyes holding my own captive. My breath hitched in my throat at the eye contact and I felt like I couldn't tear my gaze away from him. He was beautiful.
He felt almost familiar, like I had seen him before. My tail twitched in response to an unknown emotion that filled my body, and I felt my cheeks start to grow warm.
He didn't look away from me once, almost like he was in his own trance. I felt the heat on my face and my ears folded back in embarrassment at his intense stare, finally forcing myself to look away from him. My eyes dropped to the floor quickly, and I tried to act as natural as possible by reaching my hand up to brush against my forehead in an act of greeting.
I didn't dare look back up during the interactions between the visitors and my clan, keeping my tail wrapped around my leg and my ears down. I felt overwhelmed with something I couldn't put my finger on, but I felt like I needed to talk to that boy.
Despite not looking up again, I could feel the warmth of his gaze on me from time to time, continuing to make my cheeks flush.
"They do not know the sea, so they will be like babies taking their first breath. Teach them our ways so they do not suffer the shame of being useless," Tonowari's voice filled the air, making my ears twitch up. "My children, Tsireya and Ao'nung, will help you," he paused, "along with Nyla."
I quickly looked up in Tonowari's direction, confusion filling me. I opened my mouth slightly to ask, but as if reading my mind, Tonowari cut me off. "Nyla was a foreigner to our waters just as you," he gestured towards me, "She was not born of our people, but she worked hard and became one of us. She will be the best tool to help you learn our ways."
I lowered my head again, closing my eyes tightly. I didn't know exactly how to feel, but I couldn't ignore the excitement that grew within me at being able to meet the forest people. I want to learn about them, I looked up, searching for the tall boy I was entranced by earlier.
About him.
"You can follow Nyla and I!" Tsireya's sweet voice said next to me, her hand nudging my arm as she motioned for us to grab the travelers' things.
I followed her movements and quickly filled my arms with their items, keeping myself silent as Tsireya introduced us.
"I'm Tsireya and this is Nyla, my brother is Ao'nung, but he isn't the most sociable." She giggled lightly, walking next to me as we led the new comers into their Marui pod. The family didn't say much either, following us as they took everything in.
I placed their things down and bowed my head, taking a step back as the family looked at their new home. I could tell the mother was upset, but I decided to pay no offense to it. I understood the struggle of being unsatisfied with where you were.
"Do you guys want to join us for your first lesson?" Tsireya cocked her head to one side, tail flicking excitedly. I could already tell she had taken a liking to the younger brother.
I looked over at him and noticed he was looking at her through his eyelashes, a small smile on the corner of his lips. I held back a grin at the obvious tension between the two already and just looked down at my hands again.
The father, Jake Sully, or Toruk Makto, had agreed to the lesson and gave his children permission, turning back to his mate as he tried to soothe her nerves.
"Great!" Tsireya smiled, motioning towards the ocean, "Let's go!"
She took off, bounding down the netted path of the village, me in tow. I reached for her arm as I tried to slow her down a little. "Reya, hold on a minute." I breathed.
She turned to me, looking behind us for a second to make sure the others were still following.
"You totally like him," I teased, a smug grin on my face as we walked. Tsireya gasped and pinched my arm, blush rushing to her cheeks.
"Shut up, Nyla," she whined, "you can't talk, I saw how you and the older brother were making eyes at each other." She glanced behind us again, making sure they couldn't hear our conversation but were still following.
My eyes widened at her remark, ears folding back in embarrassment. "What-" I huffed, keeping my eyes trained on the water as we walked closer to it.
"He was totally eyeing you down this entire time, Ny!" She whisper-shouted, using her shoulder to bump mine. My cheeks flushed, turning to look at her. "No he wasn't-" I whispered, but before she could answer the others finally caught up with us.
"Hey," the younger brother exhaled, eyes locked on Tsireya again. The four forest Na'vi gathered next to us by the shore, the oldest girl dipping her feet into the water.
"I'm Lo'ak," the youngest brother voiced, making me look up at him again. "This is Kiri and Tuk," he motioned towards the two girls, and I noticed how Tuk, the littlest child, was holding hands with the older brother in a search for comfort.
"I'm Neteyam." My eyes shot up to look at the oldest brother's face, my ears flicking at the sound of his voice.
He sounded smooth and his words carried an accent that I found to be captivating. His voice made my body feel instantly calm, like he casted a spell on me with just two words.
Neteyam. I voiced in my mind, saying his name over and over in my head.
Neteyam's eyes met mine and I suddenly became aware of how intensely I was staring at his face, his lips curled up into a small smile.
My eyes widened, blush covering my cheeks again as I quickly broke eye contact with him.
I was captivated by him but I probably seemed so creepy just constantly staring at him.
Embarrassment rushed through me like a wave, my ears once again finding their place pinned against my head.
"Nice to meet you all!" I found comfort in Tsireya's voice as she took the lead again, her arm linking with mine. "We're going to teach you guys how to swim." She stated cheerfully.
"Wait," a voice called out to us and we all turned to see Ao'nung and Rotxo walking towards us. "Dad made me come." Ao'nung mumbled as he took his place next to us.
"Great! You can help us teach them," Tsireya smiled, leading me out to the water by our connected arms. "Let's go!"
I looked out at the water, trying to find the strength not to crumble under Neteyam's gaze again. Eywa help me.