Trigger Warning: Descriptions of violence, blood, war, and other mature themes are discussed in this book. It will follow the storyline of the movie, with additional scenes of my own creation. This is your warning.
Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Marali stood by her father and listened to him go over the rules she's heard hundreds of times before.
"No disobeying orders. You are to only observe from above, not fight. You are to be as far away from any danger as soon as you are made aware of it. If Jake says to leave, you do it. And for my heart, please, no matter what, do not go on the ground. Also, most importantly, don't let anything happen to Lo'ak or Neteyam, Marali. They are your responsibility." Norm said, pulling his daughter into a hug.
"But dad, what if-" Marali begins, but automatically closed her mouth as soon as her father pulled away from the hug, and to gave her a look. The girl sighs and nods in agreement letting her father know she understands.
"I mean it, Marali. I'll be assisting the ground team today. If I see you down on the ground, there'll be no missions for a month and no leaving the campsite either," Norm said, kneeling to be at eye level with his daughter.
But what if Lo'ak or Neteyam go to the ground, Dad? What am I supposed to do then? Am I supposed to abandon them? Leave them to fend for themselves? No. I can't because I'm supposed to protect them.
Marali had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, but instead, she nodded her head in agreement for the fear that if she opened her big mouth, she would start an argument that only get her into trouble.
The girl had been biting her tongue to prevent arguments a lot as her stress levels continued to grow. The effects of the war and having to keep track of four other people besides herself were starting to wear on the young teen. Not to mention the fact that she was barely sleeping, constantly waking up from the nightmare that's haunted her dreams for months.
"Are you even listening to me, Marali? You know you can't be this out of it on the mission. If you aren't feeling up for it, I'm sure I could ask Jake-" Norm was interrupted by his daughter.
"No! I mean, no, it's okay, Dad. I'm sorry I got distracted. I was thinking about how I should make my way over the Tíli. You know, to make sure everything is good and ready to go. Wouldn't want anything to go wrong." She exclaims, silently scolding herself for her sudden outburst.
It didn't seem to bother her father, rather, he seemed proud of her for thinking to check her ikran for any issues.
"That's my girl. Now go make me proud, kiddo." Norm said, giving his daughter a 'thumbs up' and a bright smile.
"I will, Dad. I promise." Marali assured, giving her dad the cheesiest smile she could muster at that moment.
"I love you, baby girl." Norm said, pulling the girl into a tight hug once more before ushering her to her ikran.
He didn't even give me time to say it back.
Marali scoffed as she made her way over to Tíli. When she made her way over to her ikran, she let her thoughts wander, thinking back to the conversation with her dad. His phrases and mannerisms often confused the poor girl. While her father was fluent in Na'vi and had his own Avatar that made him look like Na'vi, he frequently used human phrases. He would say cuss words here and there when something went wrong, giving her a 'thumbs up' when he wished her luck.
Sky people are weird. I'm glad that I was born in Pandora as a Na'vi.
After making sure everything was good with Tíli, the girl heard someone approaching behind her. She yelps when she feels a slight yank on her tail. The girl turns around to see Neteyam smirking and Lo'ak laughing his ass off.
"Lo'ak! What the hell!" Marali shouted, giving both of them her best glare.
"I- I only d-did it because Neteyam s-said it's time to go. You're such a scaredy cat, Marali." Lo'ak said in between his uncontrollable laughter.
"You be careful, Lo'ak. Remember, I know where you sleep. I may feel tempted one of these nights to sneak into your tent to tie your tail into a knot." Marali said with a sickeningly taunting smile on her face. This halts Lo'aks laughter as he knows that if she really wanted to, she could sneak into the family's tent and knot his tail without leaving a trace as to who did it.
"Both of you knock it off. We have to get moving. If you wish to continue your childish bullshit when we return, be my guest." Neteyam rolled his eyes, shaking his head at the childishness before him. Marali and Lo'ak look at each other and silently giggle, making their way back over to their ikrans.
Since Marali had been given the task to watch out for the Sully children, all of them, except for Neteyam, had gotten closer than anyone could have anticipated. They would play together, eat together, and fight together. They were like siblings.
"Come on, Marali. Wouldn't want to be late to the raid and make Daddy mad, would we?" Neteyam smirked.
"Speak for yourself, Neteyam. You and I both know that if you don't arrive at the raid in time, your dad will have your tail." Marali said, beaming at the young boy, knowing that what she said would piss him off.
She was right, of course, for the young Na'vi boy had kept his mouth shut the rest of the journey to the raid. The only talking that could be heard was from Lo'ak, who was ecstatic that his father finally allowed him to go on a raid. It was the only thing he had talked about since his father had told him yesterday. Marali was happy for Lo'ak. She really was, but if he said one more thing about the raid, she would start to pull her hair out.
~~~~
With the arrival of the young Na'vi teens, the mission had finally begun. Marali was having the time of her life. It had been a while since she was permitted to fly her ikran during the day. She closed her eyes and took in the feeling of the soft breeze making its way over her features and through her hair. She took in the feeling of the warm sun on her skin and sighed.
The time to just bask in the moment happening, however, came to an end when she heard an explosion from down below. The girl looked down in awe at the derailment of the train and then looked at Lo'ak and Neteyam to see the same looks on their faces. Everything was going well until she saw a look flash on Lo'aks face. She knew that look all too well. He was about to do something stupid.
"Bro, we have got to get down there!" Lo'ak exclaims, adrenaline running through the boy's body.
There's the stupid idea I was anticipating.
"Are you insane?" Marali scolds.
"For once, I have to agree with Marali. Lo'ak don't be stupid." Neteyam grimaces as if agreeing with the girl caused him physical pain.
"Come on, don't be a wuss." Lo'ak grins, looking between the two before diving down to the ground on his ikran.
"Lo'ak! Get back here you-" Neteyam screamed as he followed his brother down to the ground, hoping to convince him out of following his stupid, idiotic plan.
Marali let her father's words replay in her head.
'Don't let anything happen to Lo'ak or Neteyam. They are your responsibility.' and 'No matter what, do not go on the ground.'
The young girl was having an internal debate inside her head. She knew she didn't have much time to decide, so Marali did what she thought was right, and followed Lo'ak and Neteyam to the ground. Her father was going to string her up by her tail for disobeying him, but it didn't matter to her at this point.
As she made her way to the ground, she heard Lo'ak let out a war cry. Walking over to the two boys, she overheard what Neteyam had said to his younger brother.
"You don't even know how to use that." Neteyam said, gritting his teeth at the foolishness of his little brother. Marali couldn't focus on those two morons right now. The only thing she could focus on was how if her father found her, she would be dead because he would have her neck. Ignoring the two brothers, she discreetly looked around for her father and let out a sigh of relief when she didn't see him.
That relief quickly vanished when she saw him coming out of the dust from the recently derailed train. She slowly tried to hide behind Neteyam, earning herself a confused look from the boy. He didn't know what she was looking at until he looked in the direction from which her eyes had not yet left. A smirk made its way up to Neteyam's lips.
Marali silently prayed to Eywa that she would make Neteyam keep his mouth shut. That prayer was short-lived when the girl heard her father's voice. She knew it was only a matter of time before the boy revealed her to her father.
"Neteyam! Lo'ak! What are you boys doing down here?" Norm yelled as he jogged over to the boys. She could tell he was confused. Neither of them was allowed to be down there.
"Hey! Answer the question. What are you both doing here? In fact, where's Marali? It's her responsibility to make sure you are both-" Norm said, stopping mid-sentence, causing Marali to look up. Neteyam had revealed her to her father.
I'm so dead.
The girl's fear only intensified when she saw a bogie nearing where she and the boys were. She froze, not knowing what to do. Of all the times to not know what to do, this was not the right time.
"Go! Get out of here! Run!" Norm yelled, but Marali stood frozen in place. At least she was, until Neteyam grabbed her hand, dragging her along with him.
"Go! Hurry up!" Neteyam shouted, pushing Lo'ak and Marali up the rubble away from the direction of where the bogie was headed.
"Bro, come on!" Lo'ak said, ensuring that neither Neteyam nor Marali fell too far behind him.
The bogie releases a missile before an attack by the Na'vi can happen. When the missile hits the ground, all the kids and anyone else in the area go flying into the air.
Lo'ak's body flew hitting debris, making him winded and disoriented.
Marali had braced herself for impact, but when she felt something softer than the rubble she was standing on just seconds before she looked down.
Neteyam had grabbed onto the girl and used himself as a shield to protect her, in turn taking most of the impact. She softly pushed herself off of the boy, causing him to groan in pain. She had given herself a once over, hissing when she felt a cut just above her right hip bone and rib cage.
~~~~
Jake had witnessed everything and made the collective decision that once he knew all three children were safe, they were going to get the scolding of a lifetime. All three of them knew that they were never supposed to be this close, that they were never permitted to be on the ground. So when he saw the chopper launch a missile in the direction of his children and Marali, he broke out into a sprint, running as fast as possible to make sure all of them were okay.
"Lo'ak! Neteyam! Marali! Where are you?" Jake screams, desperately looking around, hoping, praying that he found all of them alive. Those children were his everything, including Marali, even if she wasn't his biologically.
When Jake finally spots his youngest son, Lo'ak, he quickly runs over.
"Easy, easy. Are you okay?" Jake asks, giving his son a look over for any injuries. When he sees that it's only some scratches and nothing major, Jake let out a sigh he didn't know he had been holding in.
"Where's your brother? Where's Marali? Where are they? Huh, get out of here. Go on. I'll find them. I'll find them." Jake assured, easing his son's mind when he asked about both of them instead of only his kid. Lo'ak follows his father's orders and makes his way over to his ikran to go home.
After Jake ensures that his son is safely on his ikran, he continues his search for his son and his best friend's daughter.
When Jake climbs up further onto the debris, he notices a trail of smeared blood. His heart stops, his mind automatically goes to the worst-case scenario, and when he sees Marali standing up, and rubbing the back of her head, he feels slightly relieved until he sees who she's standing over.
"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no." Jake said as he started to panic before he quickly made his way down to his oldest child, turning him over onto his back.
"Dad?" Neteyam asks, confused.
"What are you doing here, boy? What the hell were you thinking?!" Jake scolded, not caring then how blunt he was. He carefully picks his son up and puts him on his shoulders. Before he can leave to get his injuries taken care of, he needed to make sure Marali is okay. She hasn't said anything since he came over.
"Are you okay, Marali? We need to head back to camp. If you need to, I'm sure you could ride with Lo'ak." Jake said, concern evident on his face. The girl nodded her head absentmindedly, still dealing with the shock of what just happened.
~~~~
After Jake looked over the girl for life-threatening injuries, he led the way to the ikran and ensured everyone was on safely before departing from the ground. The only thing Marali could do on the journey back was think.
Dad's never gonna let me go on another mission again.
Unedited. 05/11/23
Edited. 07/05/23
Word Count: 2,357