Bold=Na'vi
"If I could act on my revenge oh would I." ~ XXXTentacion
"Yeah, I hear you." Erica's ears twitched at the sound of her fathers voice coming from her ear piece. Her sister were looking at her with the same question clearly on their minds.
Erica nodded once, signifying that their father was in fact coming to get them. Although they were tied up, Kiri and Tuk were holding each other's hands through the railing, a sigh of relief escaping both of their lips.
Erica gave them a bittersweet smile as she looked over at Quaritch who was watching the water in front of them. "He's coming!" He shouted as the rest of the crew prepared for Jake's arrival.
Although Erica wanted to be happy that their father was coming for them, she had one question that was burning in the back of her mind, Is Neteyam okay?
She tried not to let her worry show, she had to be brave for Kiri and Tuk. She had to be brave for Lo'ak even though he wasn't there. She had to be brave for Neteyam.
Silence.
Only the sounds of the sinking ship could be heard in the background.
It was unnerving,
Quaritch was getting antsy, he was getting scared. The silence was too much for him as he sat there, waiting for the fight that seemed like it was never going to come.
"Talk to me, Corporal. This ships going down and your girls with it." Quaritch's voice rang through Erica's ear piece as she looked over at him. Her heart was beginning to race as she held her gaze on the back of his head.
"Your boy didn't have to die." And just like that, Erica's world came crashing down. Her breath becoming heavier with every second that passed, her lips quivering as the tears begun to prick her eyes.
"No." She spoke quietly as the tears begun to fall onto her cheeks. "No, no, no, no." She sobbed as her body sunk into the floor, unable to hold herself up anymore.
Her chest hurt, she felt like she was about to throw up. Her little brother was gone. Her little brother. She was the older sibling, she should've protected him. It should've been her.
Erica's sobs were loud, her chest heaving with every breath she took. She curled herself up into a ball, trying to hide herself from the hurt she was feeling.
"Erica, what's wrong?" Tuk asked, worry painted her face as she stared down at her sobbing sister. The two of them had never seen her this devastated before. Sure they'd seen her cry, but not like this.
"Shut up!" One of the Avatar's commanded, grabbing her by her braid and forcing her to look up at him. It was the same Avatar that took her brother from her.
"Fuck you." She choked out to which he slammed her head onto the railing, causing a painful shriek to escape her mouth. Both Kiri and Tuk flinched at the loud sound as blood began to trickle Erica's face from her forehead. Both sisters stood still until the Avatar left, noting Erica's sudden silence.
"Erica," Kiri got down to her knee's, ducking to her sister's level. "What's going on?"
Erica looked up at Kiri, her eyes full of sadness and despair. How was she going to explain to them that Neteyam was gone? As she opened her mouth to share the news, a shout from off in the distance caught her attention as she whipped her head in it's direction.
An explosion followed shortly after, the force being enough to throw everyone on deck slightly. Erica tried her hardest to cover Kiri and Tuk from the bright light and blast despite being tied up.
"He's here." Erica spoke aloud to no one in particular as she watched the flames dance across the boat. The sounds of painful shouts being heard from every direction possible.
Everyone on deck got into their fighting positions, waiting for the inevitable attack.
Gunshots and cries for help being heard in the distance. Quaritch was trying to get a response from anyone on his blue team, but there was only static on the other side.
Jake was pissed off, and nothing was going to stop him from getting his daughters back.
Erica couldn't help but smirk at the obvious fear that Quaritch was feeling as the gunshots got closer. That's right, bitch. She thought. Be fucking afraid.
Quaritch spotted something running in the shadows, something that was obviously not one of his Avatar's. He started to shoot, but whoever was there was too fast for his bullets.
Whoever it was, they were getting closer by the second and Quaritch's fear increased the second he realized he was out of ammo. He pulled out his knife, waiting for the inevitable fight that was coming to him.
That day he learned never to fuck with grieving parents.
A familiar arrow struck one of the Sky people close to Quaritch and the girls as Tuk let out an excited squeal. "It's mom!"
Quaritch's ears dropped at the sight of the arrow, fear coursing through his body at how close she was to him. Erica noticed and took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
"That's right, fucker. They're coming for you." Quaritch turned to face the girls, an angry snarl on his face. That didn't phase either of them one bit as Tuk gave him her most intense and anger filled hiss she could muster.
Erica could've sworn she saw Quaritch flinch.
He walked towards the three of them, knife in hand as he grabbed Kiri by her braid. "Don't fucking touch her!" Erica shouted, trying her hardest to fight him off.
He held the knife to Kiri's throat as a threat and Erica quickly backed off, letting out a hiss of frustration. As she watched Quaritch take her sister away she felt as if she failed yet again to protect one of her little siblings.
As a silhouette was approaching the two remaining girls, Erica put herself in front of Tuk, ready to protect her from whatever was approaching.
As the person stepped out of the Shadow's, relief filled Erica's body as she let her shoulder's relax. "Dad!" She whispered as Tuk peered out from behind her sister, a smile on her face at the sight of their father.
He instantly ran over to his daughters, releasing them from the railing with his knife. "Are you guys okay?" He asked, pulling his two girls into his arms and holding them as tight as he could.
"Yeah, were okay." Erica spoke, patting Tuk on the top of her head.
Jake looked around for a moment, noticing the absence of his middle child. What relief he once felt was replaced by fear. "Where's Kiri?"
"He took her that way." Erica nodded her head in the direction of where she saw Quaritch take her. Jake nodded, standing up to his full height and turning to face where his daughter went.
"Stay behind me, okay?" Jake spoke as he gripped his knife tightly. Erica nodded, holding Tuk's hand as they followed behind their father closely.
Jake's eyes widened as Quaritch stepped out from behind a pillar, his daughter in his arms as he held a knife to her throat. Jake let out a frustrated hiss at the sight.
"Kiri!" Tuk shouted, attempting to run towards her sister but was stopped by Erica grabbing her wrist and her father holding out his arm to stop her.
"You already lost one kid today. You really wanna lose another?" Erica let out an angry hiss at his words as Jake begun to charge at him but quickly backed off when Quaritch held his knife tighter against Kiri's throat.
Erica felt a tugging on her arm and noticed Tuk looking up at her with sad eyes. She quickly knelt down to her sisters height. "What does he mean by that, Erica?" Tuk's voice cracked as she asked her question.
Erica looked at her sister with sympathetic eyes, placing both hands on either of her shoulders. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. "Who's dead?" Tuk's question rang in her ears as her father's and Quaritch's voice became muffled.
"It's okay, Tuk." Erica started to cry, but still tried her hardest to protect her sister from the reality that consumed them. Tuk was looking around frantically, trying her hardest to find Lo'ak and Neteyam but neither of them were anywhere to be found.
"Just look at me okay." Erica placed a hand on Tuk's face, bring her gaze towards her. "Everything's okay."
Tuk started to cry, unable to contain her emotions anymore. Erica instantly brought her into her arms, holding her tightly to shield her from the world around them. The two sisters sobbed together as Quaritch still held onto Kiri as begun Jake handcuffing himself to get her back.
"Stop, don't hurt her!" Spider came running out from the shadow's, pleading with his father to let Kiri go. Instead, Quaritch yelled at him to stay back as he still held his knife against Kiri's throat.
Before anyone could make a move, Neytiri appeared and grabbed Spider by his lifejacket, now holding a knife against his throat. "Release, or I cut." Her voice was dark, blood splattered all over her face as she glared at Quaritch. Her eyes were full of rage and grief as she held onto to Spider, determined to get her daughter back.
Erica was still kneeling on the ground, holding Tuk's head against her shoulders to make sure she couldn't see her mother like this. As Quaritch and Neytiri had their stand off, holding each other's kids against a knife, those kids were begging each other's parents not to hurt the other.
Quaritch still wasn't complying with her request and in an act of frustration, she sliced Spider's chest. He let out an agonizing scream to which Neytiri ignored, just staring at Quaritch. "I cut."
"Erica!" Tuk's voice was distressed as she tried to escape her sisters grasp but Erica held on tight. She was not going to let her sister see this.
"It's okay." She whispered, still holding her sisters head against her shoulder.
"Neytiri!" The women in question looked over at Erica for a moment, noticing the little girl she held in her arms. Erica shook her head, trying to get Neytiri to stop but she was too far gone. She was so angry and grief stricken that she couldn't think straight. All she wanted was her daughter back and she would do whatever it took to get her back.
Neytiri screamed, holding her knife in the air as she aimed it for Spider's chest. "No!" Quaritch shouted, removing his knife from Kiri's throat. Neytiri looked over at the knife in her hand, looking back at Quaritch as she waited for him to let go of Kiri.
With a frustrated grunt, he let go of Kiri and threw her on the ground. Both Erica and Tuk ran towards her, helping her up as they all slowly moved away from Quaritch and towards their father.
Quaritch looked over at Neytiri in a panic, noticing she still hadn't let go of his son. And his panic increased as she moved the knife towards his throat.
As soon as Jake noticed, he felt his heart sink to his stomach. His wife who he loved so much, was too far gone. He needed to stop her. "Baby. Baby, what are you doing?" He questioned as he slowly moved towards his wife while also holding onto his daughters.
"You really gonna kill a kid, Mrs. Sully?" Quaritch asked, trying and failing to hide his fear.
She stood there for a moment, looking at him as she tried to let what he said sink in. But she was too angry. Angry that he was lecturing her after it was him who had just killed her son. And angry that he didn't even seem to care.
"Mom, Enough." Kiri whispered to her mother, trying to calm her down as she slowly approached her along with her sisters. "Enough." She tried again as she went to place a hand on her mothers shoulder. But Neytiri was too angry.
She turned around and hissed at her daughters to which Tuk backed up into Erica and screamed. "Stop it!" Erica screamed, not knowing what else to do. She felt helpless yet again, she felt like she couldn't save anyone.
"Baby. Baby, let him go!" Jake tried again to talk some sense into his wife as he stepped closer to her, trying to not to anger her anymore.
"A son for a son." Neytiri spoke as she glared at Quaritch, her voice laced with venom.
"Your a warrior." Quaritch spoke up, holding up his knife and trying to find some way of getting his son out of her grasp. "Your fights with me, not with the boy."
"Jesus Christ, shut up! You're only making it worse!" Erica shouted at Quaritch, feeling as if she was about to have a panic attack as she and Kiri both shielded Tuk from the scene in front of her.
"Baby, listen to me." Jake tried again as he got even closer now, his voice hushed as to not startle her. He placed a hand on Erica's shoulder, assuring her that everything was going to be okay as he stepped in front of her.
"You don't wanna do this. Okay? You don't want to do this." He stepped even closer to her as her eyes stayed fixated on Quaritch.
"A son for a son." She whispered quietly and it was at that moment that Jake heard the pain in her voice. She was in so much pain and she wanted Quaritch to feel what she was feeling. And hearing the hurt in her voice absolutely broke his heart as he was finally right beside her.
"No, no. No, no, no, no." Jake whispered soothingly as he slowly started to reach for the knife in her hand while also looking at Quaritch who for the first time ever, was grateful for Jake Sully. "Let him go, okay?"
He kept looking between Quaritch and his wife as he placed a gentle arm around her. "Come on. Just give me the knife." He spoke in a bit of a panic as he placed his hand on the hilt of the knife as his daughters were begging her to stop.
Jake grabbed the knife away from Neytiri who finally released Spider by throwing him behind her. Kiri instantly ran towards him to help him up while Tuk ran beside her mom, Erica following suit to make sure her sister was okay.
Jake stood in front of all of them, holding the knife in his hand to make sure Quaritch couldn't hurt anymore of his family.
"I owe you a death." Quaritch spoke, pointing towards Neytiri who just hissed at him, refusing to move any further.
"Mama." Tuk's little voice was enough to talk some sense into her as she looked over at her youngest child's scared face. Erica placed a hand on Neytiri's arm, slowly pulling her into the water with them.
"Come on, let's go." Erica begged Neytiri who reluctantly gave in and began to back into the water with the rest of her children.
"You're not leaving, are you, Jake?" Quaritch taunted. "Knowing I'm out there?"
Jake stood firmly in his battle stance, waiting for his family to escape safely before he joined them. "I'm coming for you, and when I do, I'll kill your whole family."
Jake froze at Quaritch's words as one person flashed through his mind, Neteyam. His son was dead and it was all because of Quaritch. He couldn't afford to lose anyone else because of him, he had to finish it once and for all.
"Then let's get it done."
Jake ran onto the deck of the sinking ship as he and Quaritch fought. All of the Sully's calling for him as they continued to submerge themselves into the water. As they were preparing themselves to swim away, the water caught fire and the flames were closing in on them fast.
"Get back to the ship!" Spider shouted as they all swam back, hoping that they could make it back before the flames caught up to them. As they made their way onto the deck, an open hatch that had water pooling into it had caught Tuk in it's violent current.
Without hesitating, Eric grabbed onto Tuk's hand as she screamed for help. She got down onto her knee's as she pulled Tuk up from the hatch, struggling to hold on. "Someone help me!" Erica shouted. Neytiri didn't waste a second as she ran up behind Erica, helping pull Tuk to safety.
Unfortunately, Erica lost her balance and fell into the open hatch.
"Erica!" Neytiri shouted after her while holding her youngest in her arms. She looked around for a moment in a panic, not knowing what to do. She handed Tuk over to Kiri, telling her to keep a close eye on her sister before diving into the hatch after Erica.
She'd already lost one child today, she couldn't lose another.
-
Erica was panicking as the water kept getting higher and higher. She was running through the extreme currents, making her way towards a door that she struggled to pull open. She used all of her strength to get that door open but it wasn't enough.
She let out a frustrated grunt, looking around for anything else that could save her life or even get her out of there. "Erica!" The women in question jumped at the sight of another Na'vi below with her, running past her to try and open the door.
"Neytiri?" She blinked a few times, trying to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.
"Come! Pull!" Neytiri shouted as she continued to pull at the door. Erica ran to her aid as the two women used every ounce of strength they had to pull open the door. It swung open, the water pressure holding it in it's place as the two Na'vi ran through the door.
The boat was tipping, that much was obvious from how much their balance had been shifting as they made their way through the ship. They'd run through countless doors and evaded the water for as long as they could but now there was no more running.
They were trapped under the boat and they were slowly losing their air pocket. The lights went out and they surrounded by darkness, only the glow of their dots could be seen. Erica had spent all this time trying to get out that suddenly, all of her emotions flooded her as the world went quiet.
"Why did you come for me?" Erica questioned Neytiri as she begun to cry. Yet another person that was going to die because of her. Because she couldn't take care of herself. "You could've escaped. You could've left me."
Neytiri's ears dropped at the sound of Erica's heart break. Did she really think that she would leave her behind? Erica was just as much a Sully as the rest of her family, she deserved to be cared for and protected in the same way.
"Sully's stick together. You are a Sully." Neytiri's voice was calm despite her drumming heart beat in her chest.
That wasn't how Erica felt though, she felt like a burden. Everything that has happened to this family so far has happened because of her. Neteyam was gone because she couldn't protect him. Neytiri was about to die because she couldn't save herself.
"I'm sorry." Erica managed to choke out between her sobs.
"For what?" Neytiri asked feeling her own heart shatter at Erica's distress.
"For everything."
Without hesitating, Neytiri pulled Erica towards her and held onto her tightly. She rubbed her back as Erica cried into her shoulder, wrapping her arms around her torso as more sobs escaped her mouth.
"It's okay, Erica. Everything's going to be okay." Neytiri's voice was barely above a whisper as she held onto the young women in her arms.
It had been a long time since Erica had been comforted like that. She felt a comfort in Neytiri's words as her sobbing lessoned and her breathing slowed. The occasional stray tear trickling down her cheek as the two of them stayed like that for as long as they could.
It felt like it had been hours that they'd been trapped down there. Sooner then later they would run out of breath and die, it was inevitable at this point. Erica knew it and had made peace with the thought but Neytiri kept telling her to fight, to keep going.
She didn't want to anymore, she was ready to give up, to let herself sink to the bottom of the ship where no one could find her.
I bright light flooded the ship as soon as Erica opened her eyes. Was she already dead? Was she with the Great Mother? No, she couldn't be. She was still at the bottom of the ship. Her and Neytiri shared the same confused yet hopeful look before Erica dove under the surface.
A smile graced her lips at the sight in front of her. She held her arms open under the water as Tuk swam into them before she resurfaced. "Kiri! Tuk!" Erica spoke breathlessly as she held her baby sister in her arms and pulled Kiri towards her for a hug.
"Kiri." Neytiri spoke with such relief as she placed a gentle hand on each of her daughters heads.
"Everything is going to be okay." Kiri spoke calmly as she took the Gill Mantle off of hers and Tuk's back, handing both of them to their sister and mother. They all dove under the water, following Kiri and Tuk through the ship. Erica held Neytiri's hand the entire way to make sure they didn't lose each other.
As soon as they reached the surface, the four of them noticed a Tulkun off in the distance. And on that Tulkun's fin was Jake and Lo'ak. They all swam towards it, Neytiri calling for her husband as they approached.
Lo'ak grabbed Erica's hand and pulled her up onto the fin next to him followed by the rest of his sisters. Jake and Neytiri shared an embrace as soon as they saw each other, an embrace that the two of them desperately needed.
Tuk and Kiri were leaning against each other as Kiri planted a kiss on the top of her sister's head. She thanked their Great Mother as she caught her breath. Neytiri had her arm wrapped around her husband and a hand on her son's face as she caressed it lightly before bring that same arm to hold onto Tuk.
Erica and Lo'ak shared a giant hug as she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt relieved to be able to hold her brother again. In their quiet little bubble she'd almost forgotten about...
"Mama, where's Neteyam?" Tuk questioned as she looked around at her family.
Neytiri looked at her daughter with sad eyes as she tried to think about how to answer that question. Erica found herself tearing up, trying to hid her quivering lips as tears fell onto her cheeks. Her grip on Lo'ak tightening.
"Mom," Kiri spoke up next, a painful expression painted her face.
"Where's Neteyam?"
-
A/N
I have dragged out revealing whether or not Neteyam is alive or not throughout these last chapters and I apologize. But I SWEAR It'll be revealed first thing in the next chapter. We're officially half way through this story now because I still have a lot planned.
Also, if you're like me and struggle to come up with ideas and would like inspiration. I made a discord server dedicated to being writers and story tellers where we can all share our ideas and support each other. If that's something that interests you, heres the link.
https://discord.gg/FBwgRE6bxx
Let me know if you have any likes or dislikes and I'll try to add it into my next chapter. And if not, I'll update again in 2 weeks <3
~ J