Miles Quaritch's POV
Well damn, she was beautiful. Even if she did just have a knife to my throat, I couldn't help looking over her body, from her light, full lips to the leg sleeve tattoo tracing down her leg. Her tail was almost like mine, just thicker with a small fin at the tip. Her forearms graced with small fins in a deep shade of blue. And her ass.. damn. Just looking at how plump and round it was made me think about what it would feel like in my hands, sitting in my lap.
'Jesus christ, Miles! Get it together! She tried to kill you!' I snapped my head to Jake, about to ask what we do. But his eyes were trained on the lady in front of us, eyes wide and trailing down her body. I chuckled, knowing that we were thinking the same thing. That snapped him out of his trance with a deep purple blush on his face.
Tonowari stood in front of her. A smirk plastered on his face as he looked down at her. Oh, it looks like the three of us liked what we saw. But who knew the two mated men would look at someone other than their mates like this.
I watched as Tonowari lifted his hand, gliding the strand of white hair between his fingers. She slapped his hand away, growling in his face.
'She is fiesty. I like it.' I smirked as Tonowari stood stunned for a moment before looking towards the boy behind her.
He was a young boy, probably the same age as Spider or Neteyam. He would have looked just like the woman in front of him if it wasn't for his five fingers.
That baffles me in a way. She looks too young to be his mother, and he looks too old to be her son. Maybe from her mate's side?
I watched as she slowly took steps back, not once looking away from the three of us. Neteyam looked to us before stepping closer to her, arms held out for her.
"It's okay. They will not hurt either of you. This is my dad, Jake Sully. The guy next to me is Miles Quaritch, Spider's dad. And, well, you already know the Olo'eyktan."
She looked me up and down for a moment, blushing a tinge as I smirked at her when I noticed her gaze linger a while on my chest. This body has its perks, that's for sure. She looked at us all before lowering her knife a little, standing a bit taller.
She looked to her boy behind her. He was watching Tonowari, never moving his glare from him.
'That kid has the same look as his mum. Definitely have to be related.'
"Leave! And don't come back!" She glared at the lot of us before walking away with her son in tow.
We watched as they disappeared into the forest ahead before noticing Neteyam walk after them.
Jake stepped forward, gripping his arm. "Where are you going?"
"To see if they are alright. Kaelen is my friend, and Tahlani just met the man who banished her. Someone needs to check on them." He pulled away, running into the forest after them, leaving the three of us there for a moment.
I looked to the men before sighing, jogging towards where they went. "Well, are you just gonna stand there, or are you coming?"
I kept my pace as I heard them follow behind me. I don't know why I was following them, but I just got this feeling in my gut that I needed to be there. With them. With her.
Jake's POV
We all followed after Neteyam as best we could. I just couldn't believe he was here. Alive! It was only a few months ago that he had returned to Eywa. But now he was back. I will forever thank Eywa for his return, but he said that this lady, Tahlani, was the one who saved him. How, though?
The first thing I noticed about her was her skin. Dark blue stripes against her light teal skin. Then it was her eyes. The pale violet hue she had was mesmerising. Then it was the hair, dark wavy hair pulled back from her face, with strands of white hair loose, framing her face perfectly. I will admit, she was quite beautiful. I have never looked at another woman since I met Neytiri, but there was something about this woman that I just couldn't shake. I felt a pull towards her.
As we jogged, we finally caught up to the three of them. Talking to each other before going quiet as the three of us approached.
The boy, Kaelen, stepped in front of his mother, arm stretched in front of her in a protective position. "Why did you follow us? Leave!" He snarled.
I stepped closer to my son. "We were just making sure my son was safe."
"What, you think we would kill him after my mum just brought him back?" He sneered.
"Mawey Kaelen." She stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, he visibly relaxed at her touch.
"Tahlani, what does he mean you brought him back?" Tonowari stepped closer, eyeing the boy as he glared at him. Something about this makes me feel that they know each other.
She sighed before looking up at him. "It's exactly as it sounds. Eywa brought him here to me, so I healed him. I brought him back to the living as it was not his time yet. He is well enough now to travel, so you can take him with you and never come back."
Her stoic face bore into my mind. She had her guard up and was not letting it down any time soon. I heard a whimper as I looked at the two boys, ears pinned back and tails tucked against their thighs. It was clear that they were sad. Each does not want the other to go.
I cleared my throat, gaining her attention. "Look, I know you want us gone, but look at the boys. Our sons are friends, and it would be wrong to not let them have their goodbyes."
She looked at the two of them, her ears slightly lowering at the situation.
"If I may, it is already late for us to fly back. If you could shelter us for one night to give the boys time, we would greatly appreciate it. We will leave first thing in the morning. I promise."
She looked at me, her eyes no longer the violet colour they once were. But now a dark golden brown, almost dark enough to be black as night.
She sighed before turning away, walking into the forest once again. She stopped when she noticed no one had moved. "Are you coming, or are you going to just stand there all night?" She huffed before walking once again.
I finally let go of the breath I was holding in. I heard Neteyam and Kaelen laughed out a yes before fist pumping and walking after her.
I turned to Miles and Tonowari, who seemed to relax a bit. "Tonowari, what did Neteyam mean when he said you banished her?"
He sighed, running his hand through his long curls. "It was 10 years ago, some sky people attacked our brother clan, she was one of the warriors that fought that day. But when she returned, she was covered in blood with a demon child in her arms. The other warriors had taken her to her mauri, then told me that she had saved the child from one of ours, killing him in cold blood while protecting it. But, they had lied as to why she killed him. Someone came forth after she was banished, telling us that she had killed him for defiling a wounded woman of the clan, almost suffering the same fate.."
"But she doesn't look that old to be a warrior. How old was she when this happened?" Miles stepped in, I nodded in agreement.
He sighed before looking in the direction she walked in. "She was 15."
My eyes widened. She was just a child when this happened. I felt anger in my chest, thinking about how the young girl must have felt. She must have felt so scared. All alone out here.
"What happened to the child? To the warriors?"
"The warriors faced punishment for their lies, some being sent to other clans as my mate almost killed them herself. As for the child.. this is going to sound crazy, but.. I think that boy Kaelen is that human child."
Miles scoffed. "It does sound crazy. How would you know that?"
Tonowari looked at us then to the ground. "Because I would remember those eyes anywhere. They were the eyes that have haunted me since that day."
I sighed. It's not like Tonowari had a choice. I probably would have done the same in his position. Hell, I was in his position at one point. But it still didn't feel right.
"Did any of you feel something back at the beach?" Miles asked, looking in the same direction as the boys.
"Because, I'll be honest. I felt some sort of pull towards her. Like she is meant to be near me in some sort of way."
He looked to me as I nodded. Tonowari nodded as well.
We all looked at one another before walking towards the direction the others went.
"Well, my next question is, what do we do with her?"
Tonowari stopped for a moment before continuing on next to us. "The only thing I can do. I'm gonna bring her back. Back to where she belongs."
Well, this is gonna be fun. I wonder what Ronal and Neytiri are going to think about this.
Tahlani's POV
I walked ahead of everyone, wanting to get as much distance from Tonowari as possible, the boys close behind me.
I can't believe he was here, and with the great Toruk Makto and a soldier from the RDA. What a strange trio indeed. But what was more strange was how I felt a pull to them. I always knew there was a pull to Tonowari and Ronal, but I never acted on it. But these two other males.. I just couldn't shake it.
And it pissed me off that I saw all three of them checking me out. I knew I was attractive in some way, having had a few na'vi try to mate me over the years, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't leave Kaelen alone. And I couldn't get rid of my feelings so easily.
As my home came into my view, I sighed in relief, finally something normal for me. I walked straight to the fire pit on the forest floor, just off the side from the stairwell. I had built our home a month after finding this place. Our mauri pod twice the size of a normal family pod, cutting off into three different areas, Kaelen's room, my room, and the large sitting area in the middle. It felt too large sometimes for just the two of us, but we both loved the space, big enough for people to stay and visit, or for me to heal the animals and sometimes na'vi who found themselves lost. It's only happened three times that anyone has actually come to our home, this being the third.
I started collecting wood and dried moss for the fire, stacking them neatly in a pile before looking at one of the torches lit around the perimeter of our home. With a quick flick of my wrist, the flame stretched towards me, dancing around my fingertips as I brought it to the pit, letting it consume the moss and wood for its new home.
"That was so cool!"
I turned to the boys, as Neteyam jumped towards me, taking my hand in his, inspecting them with curiosity and awe.
"Dude, that my mum!" Kaelen glared at his friend, who quickly back up hands raised.
"Sorry! Sorry, I- I was just so shocked to see that! Like, I knew you told me she could move nature, but fire?! That is awesome!"
I laughed at him as he tried to follow my movements from earlier, trying to get the flame to come to him.
Kaelen just laughed. "Yeah, it's awesome, but you look so stupid doing it."
They laughed as the three men came into the clearing, looking around at the mauri in the trees, to the little stream running off the the side.
Quaritch whistled as Jake and Tonowari walked around, touching some of the plants on the tables I had placed around.
"Don't touch that one. It's carnivorous." I warned as Jake flinched back as the blue plant snapped at him. I smirked as he looked at the plant, lightly hissing at it before he walked over, sitting down across from me. I could feel his gaze linger on me, but as I looked up, I caught him looking at my hair. I instantly brought the strand to the front of my eyes, looking at the white locks.
"I was born with this. My mother and father always said that it was because Eywa had brought me back to life the day I was born." I looked to him as he nodded, looking me in the eyes.
His golden ones pierced into mine, almost like he was searching my soul.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to linger." The side of his lips pulled at the corner, almost making a smile before it disappeared.
I shrugged before turning my attention to the other men in the group. Tonowari was tracing his hands along the spear rack I had made for our weapons, lingering on the one spear he knew very well. The long wooden handle painted to mimick my skin, the blade a onyx colour with small specks of white.
"I see you kept our gift after all these years."
I didn't reply as he looked at me, a glimmer of hope in his ocean blue eyes.
I just looked to the other man, Miles, I think his name was, as he was inspecting the mauri and stairs. He stepped onto the stairwell and jumped a little to test his weight. He smiled as he looked to me. "Nice place you got here, darling. Did your mate build this for ya?"
I scoffed before standing, walking over to one of the trees, reaching as one of the branches lowered towards me.
"I don't have a mate." I stated as I picked the yovo fruits from the branch before sending it back to its place.
I turned to find everyone, but Kaelen wide-eyed. I just strolled over to where I once sat, pulling my knife out as I cut them in half, placing them on a large leaf.
Kaelen walked over with a few fish they had caught before everything happened, enough to feed everyone tonight.
I smiled as he sat beside me with Neteyam on my other side, just close enough to both his father and me.
I quickly got to work on the fish, cleaning and piercing them onto sticks before placing them near the fire to cook. I looked up as Tonowari and Miles joined the circle, Miles next to Kaelen and Tonowari in between him and Jake.
I quickly cleaned everything up as we waited for the fish to cook. 'Damn, I need a drink.'
I turned to Kaelen as he was rotating the fish. "Kaelen, I'm going to get some drinks for everyone. Stay and watch over everyone til I get back."
"I can do it, I'll take Neteyam with me. You should relax." He nodded to Neteyam. Before I could even protest, they had left, leaving me with the three men alone.
I sighed as I fiddled with my knife. The air around us grew awkward and tense as we sat in silence. Only when someone cleared their throat did I look away from my blade.
My eyes locked with Tonowari as he ran a hand through his hair. "Tahlani, we need to talk."