Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Last night was the worst night's sleep anyone in the newly occupied Mauri pod had gotten in ages. Everyone in the Mauri pod had dark eye bags and unreasonably short tempers, Marali included. Jake and Neytiri were preparing breakfast while Tuk stood beside her mother, rubbing her eyes. Lo'ak was still attempting to sleep, even with Jake yelling at him every few minutes, and Kiri stared into space as she twisted the beads on her braid.
The girl looked over to see Neteyam rolling his mattress up and putting it away, more quiet than usual. Usually, Neteyam would have assisted his dad in waking Lo'ak up, cracking a joke or two while he was at it, but it seemed like he wasn't in the mood either.
This is going to be a long day. Marali thought to herself.
Did she also forget to mention that they start training today? Marali thought back to when Tsireya came to inform the group right after the family meeting everyone had to intend.
Marali watched as Neteyam grabbed his younger brother's shoulder before speaking, "Family meeting, remember?" Causing Lo'ak to roll his eyes at Neteyam.
"Come on, take a knee. Let's go." Jake said as he knelt in front of the children before him. Marali sat beside Tuk, who had a depressed look on her face, and the girl felt a pang in her chest. "Okay." Jake sighed, "I need you kids to be on your best behavior. I mean it. Learn fast, pull your weight," He paused, looking over at Lo'ak, "Don't cause trouble, got it?"
"Yes, sir," Lo'ak said, hissing when Neteyam grabbed onto the back of his neck in a teasing manner. Tuk and Marali snickered at the two brothers before the girl's face got serious, noticing that Jake was staring at her.
"And you," He said, pausing as if he was trying to think of the correct words to say, "Play nice with others." She looked at him, shocked, before side-eyeing Neteyam, who had failed to hold back his laughter. "I always play nice with others." She said, giving Jake an innocent look.
"What about that one time you pun-" Tuk started to speak but was quickly cut off as Marali tickled the girl's sides, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles.
"I mean it, Marali. I know you can be kind, but you can also be rigid when someone picks on your friends." Jake says. The Na'vi teen looked at Jake, giving him a nod, and softly whispered, 'Yes, sir."
Then Marali looked over to see that Tuk no longer had a smile on her face, and she fell sad once more. "I want to go home," The youngest cried out, wiping her eyes with her hand.
"Aww, Tuk," Neytiri cooed. Jake looks at his youngest with a sorrowful look, slowly leaning closer, "Tuk," Jake softly sighs, "This is our home now." He said, grabbing Tuk's hand as a way to provide comfort. "And we're going to get through this if we have each other backs, right?" He said, looking at everyone.
"What does your father say?" Neytiri asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Sully's stick together," The four children said, almost as if it was causing them physical pain.
"That's right, Sully's stick together. This time with some feeling.' Jake nodded. Marali watched in amusement as all the kids repeated the phrase practically the same way. The only difference was that they said it louder.
The moment had been interrupted as Tsireya had made her way into the pad to inform the Sullys that their training would be starting the next day.
"Move," Neteyam grunted, pushing Marali out of his way.
"Someone's in a mood." Marali teased with a snort. He shot her an unamused look, and the smile fell off her face, "You know, you're not the only one who didn't sleep well last night. Lo'ak still hasn't faced the sun yet." She said, smiling when she heard Lo'ak grumbling at her to be quiet.
"Speaking of Lo'ak," Jake said, glancing at his son, "Lo'ak! I'm going to tell you one more time. Get your ass out of bed! Before I let Tuk come over there and jump on you." This seemed to brighten the girl's mood when she heard she was allowed to wake her brother. However, Lo'ak still didn't budge, not caring about his father's threat.
Jake looked at Tuk and gave her permission to jump on her brother. That's all the little girl needed before bursting into a sprint with the biggest smile on her face, leaping into the air once she got close enough to Lo'ak. Marali cringed when she heard the impact of Tuk's hit.
"Tuktirey! I swear I'm going to-," Lo'ak yelled, pausing his sentence when he saw his mother waiting for him to finish with a wooden utensil already prepared in her hand. "I swear I'm going to give you the biggest hug."
"Come over and get something to eat before Tsireya arrives," Jake said. All the children made their way over and grabbed some food, placing it onto their plates before digging in.
~~~~
Marali ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards the dock, right behind Lo'ak and Neteyam. Tsireya had finally come to take the kids for their training and informed them that they would be working on their breathing today. She was excited to finally be able to swim. There were rivers and waterfalls back in the forest, but nothing could compare to the water surrounded the Metkayina clan.
"If you keep going that slow, I might actually beat you for once, Mara," Lo'ak shouted, turning his head to face the girl with a teasing smirk on his face. Marali only rolled her eyes, her smile playing on her lips before she pushed herself harder.
The ground beneath her feet in the Metkayina was different from the Omatikaya. While the ground back home would be considered rigid, rough, and even cold, the ground of the Metkayina clan was soft, squishy, and warm.
Finally catching up to Lo'ak and Neteyam, she noticed they had started to slow down. Marali saw the dock coming to an end and didn't slow her pace. She turned her head to face Lo'ak and Neteyam, sticking her tongue out as she took a big breath before diving into the water.
As she opened her eyes, she was amazed at what she saw. The animals, plants, and colors - all were beautiful and completely different from the forest. It was as if she had entered a new planet.
The girl turned her head when she heard a splash behind her. Lo'ak and Neteyam had finally decided to join her, their own eyes widening at the scenery before them. She and Lo'ak looked at each other and smiled, and when she went to do the same thing with Neteyam, he looked away, avoiding her gaze.
I guess he's butt hurt that I beat him into the water. Marali thought to herself.
Marali then turned around to see the Metkayina teens way ahead of them, so she did her best to try and keep up. She was doing decent, at least, the girl thought she was. She was closer to the Metkayina teens than Lo'ak and Neteyam were, but that soon came to an end when she quickly swam to the surface, gasping for air. Her lungs felt like they were on fire.
Relief washed over her when she saw Lo'ak, Neteyam, and Tuk on the surface, gasping for air as well. Lo'ak stuck his face into the water, and Marali followed suit. She squinted as she saw Tsireya doing something with her hands, leaving the girl completely confused.
Then Tsireya waved her hand, signaling for them to dive back down and follow them. The Omatikaya children took in a big breath before diving back down to attempt to reach Tsireya and the others once more.
It was short-lived, however, as all four Omatikaya kids swam back up to the surface for a couple of minutes. Marali stuck her head into the water to see all three of them swimming up to the surface.
Tsireya looked at all of them, concern written on her features, "Are you alright?" She questioned, not even out of breath. Marali stared at Tsireya and Rotxo in disbelief. "You're too fast. Wait for us!" Tuk whined as she wipes the water off her face.
"Just breathe," Tsireya told them.
Soon Ao'nung joined the group, "You are not good divers," he teased, "You're maybe good at swinging through trees but-," Marali snorted as Tsireya smacked her brother upside the head.
"You wound us, fish lips." The girl said, holding her hand up to her heart. Ao'nung looked at her with an obnoxious smirk.
"Come on, bro," Lo'ak complained.
"We don't speak this finger talk," He said, gesturing with his fingers, "We do not know what you're saying."
Marali could hear the frustration in his voice. It wasn't often the Omatikaya boy found himself not being good at something, in fact, Marali couldn't remember the last time he failed before today. She understood it perfectly, though, the need to be perfect and to get something right on the first try. It was the one thing they had in common.
"I will teach you," Tsireya assured them.
"Where is Kiri?" Rotxo suddenly asked.
"Kiri?" Tuk repeated. Marali looked around in panic, hoping she would see her friend somewhere among them. She mentally slapped herself when she realized the girl was nowhere to be found.
"Who?" Ao'nung questioned. Neteyam, Lo'ak, and Marali shot the boy a glare due to his lack of interest when everyone introduced themselves.
"Maybe if you would've been paying attention when we were introducing ourselves, instead of standing there looking like your head was in the clouds, you'd know who we were talking about." Marali snarked as the Metkayina boy smirked at the girl amused.
"Not my fault your faces and names are forgettable," Ao'nung said, holding his hands in surrender. Lo'ak was the next person to speak, "I'm sure she's okay. She used to do this all the time back in the forest." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. This helped Marali to relax, but she still couldn't help but worry about her friend.
"Ao'nung, why don't we try to teach them how to ride an ilu?" Tsireya asked, looking at her brother, "We could take a break from teaching them how to breathe underwater and have some fun."
"Sure," He says, "But I don't know how much fun it's going to be when they will fall off constantly." Marali looked at him sweetly before splashing water in his face, swimming back ashore.
~~~~
Marali observed as she saw Ao'nung clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth, calling the ilu over. "These are ilu," He said, "If you want to live here - you have to ride." The girl saw Ao'nung look at her with a suggestive look before she started gagging resulting in Tuk asking if she was okay.
Neteyam - had been observing how Ao'nung would give Marali suggestive looks, even making comments here and there, and it made his blood boil. He knew Marali was a beautiful girl, one of the prettiest he had ever laid eyes on, but that didn't mean he needed to be subjected to the boys that tried to flirt with her. The boy only felt slightly better when he saw that Marali was not interested in Ao'nung's advances, either rolling her eyes at the boy or pretending to gag in disgust.
The boy had let down his little sister and directed her to stand beside Marali while he stood beside Lo'ak. There were more Omatikaya children than Metkayina children, which meant someone would have to train two people.
"I'll train Tuk," Rotxo said, smiling at the little girl in front of him. Tuk looked over at Marali for approval and jumped with glee when the girl gave her an encouraging nudge.
"I'll train Lo'ak," Tsireya said shyly, looking over at the boy who could barely meet her gaze. Neteyam smirked at his little brother but then suddenly felt bad for Marali. He looked over to see the girl had a smirk of her own, and it confused him.
Didn't she have a crush on Lo'ak? Why would she be smirking at his reaction if she didn't have a crush on him? The boy pushed those thoughts aside and grimaced when he realized that Ao'nung was the only option to train them.
"Alright, come here Mari, and Neteyam," Ao'nung ordered, causing the two teens to tense at the nickname he had given the girl. "My name's Marali." She said, hoping he only called her Mari because he had forgotten her name just like he did with Kiri.
"I know what your name is," He informed, glancing up at the girl, "I just thought it would be nice to shorten it a bit. Do you not like it?" Marali looks at him with her arms crossed. "No, I don't like it. As I said, my name is Marali, and my friends call me Mara." She said, not amused by the fact that he had stolen Neteyam's nickname for her.
"Alright, Mara-" He was cut off, "You're not my friend." She said. Neteyam nudged her shoulder and looked are her accusingly.
'What?' She mouthed.
'Be nice.' He mouthed back. Marali sighed and looked at Ao'nung, who had turned his full attention to her.
"But I suppose since we'll be living here, we can try to be friends, so you can call me Mara." She grumbled, looking back at Neteyam for approval. It was ridiculous. The fact that she had to look back at Neteyam for approval. It's not like Ao'nung had been nice to them, so the girl was just returning the energy.
"Now that we've got that settled," He said, "Who wants to go first?" Ao'nung looked at both teens. Neteyam took a step forward, volunteering to go first, and Marali visibly relaxed.
"Before you make the bond, take a few minutes to get to know Eymí. Tell her about yourself, likes, dislikes, what you do or don't do for fun, and then make the bond gently." Ao'nung explained the process to Neteyam.
Ao'nung and Marali stood beside each other as they watched Neteyam talk to the ilu he would be riding for the day. He had been talking with the ilu for a few minutes, and Marali saw Neteyam reach back for his queue before making the bond. The boy paused for a moment before taking off underwater. Marali stuck her head under the surface to see how Neteyam did for the first time. Everything was going seemingly well until he lost his grip, letting go. The girl lifted her head out of the water to hear Ao'nung making fun of Neteyam.
Play nice, Marali. Do not stoop to his leave. She thought to herself.
"Your turn, forest girl," Ao'nung said.
Marali made her way over to the ilu she would be riding for the day and introduced herself before making the bond. Once the bond was made, the girl could feel her pupils dilate. She took a moment to feel the ilu's breath through the bond, matching the flu's pace. Then she quickly dove into the water, hanging on as tight as she could. But, her efforts to hold on were in vain as she made it about the same distance Neteyam did before falling off.
She went up to the surface to hear the laughter of Ao'nung and his friends.
All the Omatikaya children went on their respective ilu's dozens of times, doing their best to learn fast as Jake had asked of them. With Tuk being the youngest, it was easier for her to adapt, so she was the first to get riding an ilu down, followed by Kiri, who taught herself, then Lo'ak, and finally Neteyam and Marali, who tied for last.
The Sully kids and Marali were walking to their Mauri pod, with Tuk briskly skipping in front of them. Once they made it to the pod, Marali saw Tuk run over to her mother, hugging her and talking about her day.
"So," Jake said, looking at the teens expectantly, "How was the first day of training?"
Tuk ran over and jumped up and down in front of Jake, "It was awesome, Dad! We went swimming, which we were kind of bad at," She informed, trailing off, "But then they gave us ilu's, and I was the first one to ride it without falling off!" Tuk exclaims.
"Oh, yeah?" Jake said, looking at the teens, who nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah! I learned how to ride before Neteyam and Marali!" She said.
"Hey! You learned how to ride before me too!" Lo'ak says, pouting that his sister didn't mention him. Tuk looks at him and rolls her eyes, "Lo'ak, you were the first person to fall off."
Everyone in the room tried to stifle their laughter but ultimately failed, causing Lo'ak to look at the group accusingly. Before anyone knew it, Lo'ak was squinting his eyes, deciding what his next move would be, then running to get his sister. Tuk squealed in excitement as she ran up to Neytiri to try to hide behind her.
"I'm going to get you, Tuk!"
Unedited. 05/15/23
Edited. 07/17/23.
Word Count: 2,901
Quick note-
I'm sorry for updating later than I usually do. I was super busy today.
I also wanted to give a shout out to @kvildyte for voting on my book. I really appreciate it.
Thank you all so much for 100 reads! I really do appreciate it beyond words.