"Neteyam?"
She approached the kneeling boy slowly. He was facing away from the opening of the pod, his back to her, looking down at something he was holding. She moved to stand behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning forward so she could see what he was holding.
He startled as if he had been in deep thought and looked up at her, clenching his fingers around the cummerbund in his hands.
"You did not have to follow me," he said as he shoved the belt away into a braided sack that held all his belongings.
"I know," she placed herself beside him, facing him as he sat with his side to her. She reached up to playfully tug the black pearl that now hung from his braid before leaning back on her hands. "But here I am," she smiled slyly.
"Not before Ao'nung got to talk to you though," he stated, a resigned tone to his voice. As she furrowed her eyebrows, silently questioning how he knew, he shrugged, "I heard him yelling your name as I left."
"Right." Tcelia sighed. She hadn't even herself realized that Ao'nung had called her name, she had been so keen on following Neteyam to see if he was alright. "He only wanted to show me something tomorrow," she shrugged, "Said it would cheer me up."
Now it was Neteyam's turn to furrow his brow, "That doesn't sound suspicious at all," he said dryly. "You guys have become pretty close lately, huh." Tcelia could hear that he was straining to sound indifferent, but it was pretty clear that Neteyam still didn't like Ao'nung at all.
"Yeah, well," she paused, contemplating her next words, "He can be nice when he wants to." She gently shoved his shoulder with a hand, "And anyway, becoming friends with the chief's son is kind of my specialty."
The corner of his mouth twitched upward as he fought a smile but then something in his eyes changed, as if realizing something, and he turned serious once again. "You know, maybe I should join you tomorrow." He feigned an apathetic shrug, "Just to make sure nothing bad happens."
Tcelia laughed, rolling her eyes, "What, do you not think I can handle myself?"
"That is not what I said," Neteyam splayed out his arms, "I only meant-"
Tcelia cut him off, "I am only kidding, Neteyam. Of course you can come." She looked out of the opening as voices approached the pod, "I'd actually prefer it if you did, Ao'nung can be pretty intolerable sometimes." She smiled as she watched Lo'ak, Kiri and Tuk approaching the opening.
Lo'ak entered first, "Bro, why did you leave so suddenly?" he accused as he placed himself down on Tcelia's side so that he too, was facing Neteyam. As Tcelia reached out a hand towards Tuk, she could see out of her peripheral vision that Neteyam rolled his eyes as he responded. Tuk happily bounded over to Tcelia, allowing her to wrap her arm around the little girl's shoulders. Kiri followed close by, seating herself by Neteyam.
If Tcelia ignored the sound of the waves crashing by the shore, she could almost imagine that they were back in the forest, chatting about their day before they had to sleep, like they had done countless times before.
---
"Why did you bring forest boy?" Ao'nung smirked, "Can't go longer than two hours without each other now, huh?" He was leaning up against a palm tree, arms crossed, close to where they had agreed to meet. The sun was rising steadily, hues of orange already starting to disappear, making way for the brightness of the sun.
Tcelia rolled her eyes as her and Neteyam approached the Metkayina boy, "Shut it, Ao'nung. I am here, that's what counts."
"Well, I am truly honored that the Omatikaya princess could spare taking out two hours of her day to spend time with my humble self." He mocked, raising an eyebrow, "Really, it is so big of you to-" Tcelia whacked him in the stomach to cut him off, although that just seemed to amuse him even more as his smirk grew into a grin. "Alright, damn." He rubbed the spot she had hit him, "Still not in a joking mood I see. Follow me then." Neteyam and Tcelia shared a look as they followed behind Ao'nung.
As he led them down to the beach, Ao'nung turned so that he was walking backwards, smirking at them, "So," he whistled, "I am sure you are wondering what I want to show you."
Neteyam and Tcelia shared a look once again before Neteyam turned to look at Ao'nung, "Not really," he shrugged indifferently. Tcelia smothered a laugh as Ao'nung's superior mask dropped for a second, confusion shining through.
He recovered quickly though, raising a finger and shaking it at Neteyam, "Wasn't talking to you, forest boy."
Tcelia rolled her eyes, and before Neteyam could respond with a crude remark that she could see was brewing in his mind by the look in his eyes, she spoke up, speaking in a dry, monotonous rhythm. "Ao'nung, I have been tossing and turning all night, wondering where you would take us. Please do tell us, I don't think I can wait another minute."
Beside her, Neteyam snorted, but it seemed like Ao'nung chose to ignore her sarcastic tone. Ao'nung's smirk grew wide, "Now that's more like it," he rubbed his hands together, "We, my friends," he splayed out his arms, "Are going to see a Daisy Anemone blooming."
Tcelia and Neteyam stopped in their tracks, forcing Ao'nung to halt as well. "No way," Neteyam said, "There are only Daisy Anemones outside the reef. We're not allowed to leave." Tcelia nodded beside him when Ao'nung looked at her skeptically, confirming that what Neteyam had said was true.
Ao'nung's smirk went from one of self-satisfaction, to one of curiosity, "Why are you not allowed to leave the reef?"
Tcelia and Neteyam looked at each other, communicating silently, pondering if they should tell Ao'nung the truth. They settled on it probably not being the smartest idea pretty quickly.
"We just aren't, alright?" Tcelia sighed, slightly disappointed. She had heard from Tsireya that a blooming Daisy Anemone was a beautiful thing to witness.
"Come on, we'll only be gone for a couple of hours," Ao'nung's eyes flashed with mischief, "Toruk Makto won't even have time to notice that you've been gone."
"Well..." Tcelia thought this over. If they were only going to be gone a few hours that meant that they wouldn't be going too far, which meant that the possibility of danger couldn't be that high. And Jake had technically only forbidden them from leaving the reef during nighttime, he had never specifically mentioned what the rules were during the day, only that they shouldn't go too far inland.
Tcelia was operating in a very small grey area right now, she knew that, but what were the chances of anything bad happening really? Ao'nung had lived here his entire life, he knew the ocean like the back of his hand; they would be safe with him.
Neteyam grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him. "You're not seriously considering this, are you, Tcelia?"
She shrugged apologetically, looking up at Neteyam, "Tsireya told me that the Anemone only blooms once every year. It would be pretty cool to see it." She had already made up her mind. She needed something to draw away the thoughts of Spider and maybe this Anemone thing would do the trick. She just had to convince Neteyam to come along as well. "We would be back before Jake even realized we were missing, Neteyam."
He looked down at her, searching her face, but Tcelia could see that Neteyam already knew that she was going. His eyes flickered, undoubtedly searching for a way to get her to stay, to change her mind.
Tcelia knew it was unfair even as she did it, but that didn't stop her from slowly placing her hand on top of his that was holding her arm and looking up at him through her lashes, "Please?" She pleaded. She was well aware of Ao'nung observing them with an amused look, but she chose to ignore it.
Neteyam hesitated then swallowed, "Fine," he murmured, "fine." Then he turned to look at Ao'nung, pointing a finger in his face, "But we're back here in two hours, or I will tell the Olo'eyktan that you were the one who tricked Lo'ak into going to Three Brothers rock, understand?"
Ao'nung raised his hands in mock defeat, "Whatever you say, man."
Upon hearing Ao'nung's confirmation, Neteyam stalked down towards the beach, leaving Tcelia and Ao'nung to scramble after him.
Ao'nung lowered his mouth to her ear as they followed behind Neteyam, "Wow," he chuckled, "What can't you get him to do?"
Tcelia rolled her eyes and shoved him away, although she felt guilty at Ao'nung's words. She knew that she could get Neteyam to do almost anything she wanted him to; his whole family could too, but she rarely took advantage of it like she had just then. But maybe this would be good for Neteyam as well, to get away and get a break from all the worry that was consuming him.
She waded out into the water after Neteyam, calling upon an ilu and swiftly, all three of them were making their way towards the gap in the water terraces where the Tulkun had entered through a week or so ago. She nuzzled Etwin's neck before making her dive below the surface, following Ao'nung who led them away from the reef.
As they left the reef behind, guilt started nagging in the back of Tcelia's mind. She was well aware that this was pretty much going directly against Jake and Neytiri's orders, and even worse, she had convinced Neteyam to come along as well; Neteyam whose worst fear was disappointing his parents. She glanced back at him, but she could barely see him through the whirl of the water that rushed past her. She shook her head forcefully, trying to forget the guilt-ridden thoughts that swirled in her head, turning her attention back towards the Metkayina boy in front of her to make sure that she didn't lose him.
Due to the tsaheylu with Etwin, Tcelia was able to hold her breath for way longer than she would normally, though she still had to break the surface every fifteen minutes to breathe. The fourth time she went up for air she realized how far they had gotten from the reef. She looked around, unable to spot land in any direction. The last time she had been in open water, or rather, over open water, had been when the Sullies and her had flown to the reef for the first time. It felt like a whole lifetime ago. If they kept swimming now then eventually they would make it back to the forest, back to their home.
In front of her, Ao'nung surfaced, "Keep up, forest girl!"
Tcelia hadn't even realized she had slowed down. She was starting to think that this might not be such a great idea after all.
"How much further is it, Ao'nung?" she asked, her brows creasing as she spoke. Beside her, Neteyam broke the surface, and Tcelia realized that they had stopped completely.
"What's wrong?" Neteyam asked, looking from Tcelia to Ao'nung and then back to her again.
"Just a little while longer," Ao'nung smirked, answering Tcelia's question, "We are almost there."
Tcelia hesitated, looking at Neteyam before speaking again, "Maybe it's not such a great idea-"
Ao'nung cut her off, pointing to something in the distance, "Look! It's the tulkun!"
Tcelia and Neteyam squinted in the direction that Ao'nung was pointing. Sure enough, large bodies were gliding through the water close to the surface, creating large ripples in the water. Their massive bodies moved effortlessly, their tails slapping against the surface of the water as they propelled themselves forward.
The sound of their blowholes could be heard from a distance, as they surfaced to take a breath of fresh air before diving back down into the deep blue. The water around them was clear and sparkling, creating a beautiful contrast against their dark, sleek skin. Tcelia, Neteyam and Ao'nung glanced at each other for only a second before diving under the surface and making their way towards the creatures in a hurry to get to them.
Ao'nung swam straight for his Spirit brother, disconnecting from the ilu and clambering onto his brother's fin. The tulkun greeted the Metkayina boy happily, surfacing so that Ao'nung could breathe. Unsure of what to do, Neteyam and Tcelia swam close to Ao'nung amongst the herd of tulkun.
They probably spend longer than they should have with the tulkun, joining them as they swam peacefully through the water. Tcelia found herself not wanting to part from the herd as Neteyam and her drifted along under the water, signing to each other occasionally when they wanted to show each other something they had noticed. Even if they didn't make it to the blooming Anemone, Tcelia thought, it would still have been a successful outing, taking her thoughts away from Spider and letting her enjoy her life for a few moments.
Suddenly a loud thrum vibrated through the water, shattering the peaceful atmosphere. Tcelia and Neteyam looked at each other with concern before surfacing. Her heart dropped as she spotted a large ship approaching at a rapid speed.
"We need to get out of here," Neteyam muttered to her, and the two quickly dove under the water again to look for Ao'nung. They searched in a panic, finally finding him with his spirit brother in the front of the herd. Tcelia grabbed his arm desperately trying to pull him to the surface so that she could explain.
"What is it?" he signed, but Tcelia wasn't skilled enough to explain what was going on in sign language. She vigorously pointed at her ear, indicating for him to listen, then began tugging on his arm again, begging him with her eyes to come with her. Ao'nung's ears pricked as he noticed the strange noise, and a concerned look passed across his features. He finally allowed Tcelia to drag him to the surface where Neteyam was, keeping a look out for the ship.
"Hurry!" he hissed as they broke the surface of the water. Her heart lurched as she spotted how close the ship had gotten, no further than half a klick away from them. She felt frozen as she watched the mouth of the ship open and a smaller, much faster boat come sliding out of it. Neteyam shook her, "We need to go, Tcelia. Now!"
She nodded, her breath shuddering in her chest as she inhaled, diving below the surface and following Neteyam who was leading them away from the tulkun and away from the ship. Panic was welling up in her, closing around her throat and pressing down on her.
She almost screamed under the water as a net was flung around her and Ao'nung. She hadn't even realized that she was still holding on to him. As she looked back, she spotted a woman leering at her from behind the safety of a thick glass pane. She recognized it as a submarine; Jake had told them stories when they were younger of how humans used to explore their earth and its oceans.
Neteyam swam to them, grabbing onto the net to help Tcelia and Ao'nung as they scrambled to escape. Suddenly something dove into the water, taking a hold of the net and dragged them above the surface and into the open air. Neteyam, who was still clutching onto the outside of the net, was pulled up with them.
Her heart was beating uncontrollably fast as she glanced up, realizing that it was an ikran that had taken them, and for a quick ecstatic moment, she thought it was Jake who had come to rescue them. But Tcelia quickly spotted the foot of the Na'vi who was riding the Ikran, and they were wearing human shoes - so not a Navi. An Avatar. And the quick flash of naïve hope came crumbling down around her.
Tcelia's eyes widened in panic as she saw how fast they were approaching the ship. She scrambled around in the net, reaching to cover both of Neteyam's hands with her own. He was holding on for dear life, a desperate look in his eyes, his mind undoubtedly churning as he tried to come up with a way to get her out of the net.
"You need to let go!" She cried frantically as she watched him through the small holes in the net.
His eyes widened with incredulity at her demand before he shook his head furiously, ears flattening, "I am not leaving you!"
"Yes you are," Tcelia insisted, pleading for him to understand, "You need to get back and warn your family," Her voice broke as she spoke and she mentally scolded herself; this was no time to be sentimental, the situation was too dire. "You need to go to them and convince them to leave. To go far away so that they won't find you!"
Neteyam's eyes widened, pain evident in them, "No," he hissed, clenching his jaw. "I am not letting go."
"Do not come back for us-" Tcelia began, speaking firmly and choosing to ignore Neteyam's refusing words, only to be cut off by Ao'nung who scrambled in a panic.
"Speak for yourself! Come back for me-"
Tcelia ignored him, never taking her eyes away from Neteyam's, "-that is exactly what they want, Neteyam." She begged him to understand, glancing in a frenzy at the ship that was no more than two hundred meters away from them now. "We will figure something out, just go!" Her tone was on the brink of a plea, "Please!"
But of course, Neteyam was adamant. He shook his head, eyes desperate, "I am not leaving you!" he shouted. Tcelia knew that Neteyam would never leave her willingly, would never let go of the net and flee without her. She was the one who had to be strong, to do what was right for everyone even though the thought of it made her physically ill. But she would not allow herself to be selfish in this situation even though she so desperately wanted to.
"I know," Tcelia's lips formed into a miserable smile, "That is why I am going to help you." Before he could respond, she pried his fingers open, forcing him to let go of the net and plummet into the water below. She watched him break the surface as they left him behind and were carried above the deck of the ship, only to be dropped harshly on the concrete surface.
Tcelia and Ao'nung scrambled out of the net, Tcelia taking up a fighting stance instantly, hissing at the avatar soldiers and humans with guns that were slowly closing in on them. As she lunged at a human soldier, an avatar grabbed her arm, forcing it behind her back, twisting it until she had to bite down to stop herself from letting out a yelp of pain.
She was forced to her knees, both arms wrenched behind her back. Ao'nung had been forced down and was lying on his stomach, arms wrenched back as well. An avatar woman was securing handcuffs around his wrists, her knee resting on Ao'nung's back, forcing him to stay down.
His eyes were flickering around in a panicked frenzy and Tcelia felt sick as a picture of her lying in the exact same position with a knee straining her breathing flashed across her mind.
"Don't touch him!" Tcelia yelled, buckling against whoever was holding her, trying to get to Ao'nung.
Ao'nung jerked, trying to escape but the avatar swiftly forced down the butt of her gun, the metal making a sickening thud as it made contact with the back of Ao'nung's head.
Tcelia watched as his eyes rolled back in his head, his body becoming instantly still. Tcelia tried to scream but no sound came out, and suddenly she had twisted into a standing position in the avatar's grip, ignoring the flare of pain that shot through her shoulder as she did, jerking a knee in the man's stomach.
His grip slackened on her as he bent over from the force of the blow and Tcelia managed to tear herself free from the man. Although her victory was short lived as another avatar pounced on her, colliding with her back, and knocking her down. Tcelia flailed, trying to get away, but the Avatar was grown and much larger than she was. Grunting, he managed to yank her arms behind her back once again.
"Knock her out," Tcelia heard someone calling out and she managed to hiss in the direction of the voice before something heavy made contact with the back of her head. Pain exploded in her skull as she crumbled into darkness. The last thing she registered was the avatar's nasty sneer of satisfaction and the sound of boots on concrete as they approached her.