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SINCE SHE COULD REMEMBER, Ilyana had committed to herself that she would always stand up for her siblings, and this was one of those occasions. As the little girl led the older one along, Tuk's hand was firmly around Ilyana's.
She was anxious even if she didn't acknowledge it at the time. Ilyana's eyes wandered, checking each tree to make sure nothing was there as the the group crept into the woodland in search of cover. The girl couldn't help but wonder what would have occurred if she had advised Lo'ak against going to the battleground, and part of her wished she had. But she knew it was inevitable.
"You're going to be in so much trouble." Kiri says aiming her words at Lo'ak.
"Kiri, stop." He tells her
"Guys, come on."
Tuk runs forwards determined to get home before eclipse.
"It's almost eclipse, come on!"
Exactly on cue, an avatar approaches from behind her and grabs her arm.
"Tuk!"
While Kiri watches from behind them, unsure of what to do, the two lads lift their bows and arrows and hiss at the avatars. Ilyana, however, had different plans and climbed a tree from above to hide behind the group.
"Put it down!" The avatars oblige in english, "Put it down or I'll shoot you!"
"Drop it!"
Lo'ak gives in dropping his bow to the floor.
"Do not move! Put your hands up!"
"Put it down. Put it down." Lo'ak tells Spider as he drops his too.
The avatars grab them by their shoulders, restraining them. Ilyana watches from above in horror and then can only think of the man their father told them about when they were young—in other words, Spider's father. Miles Quaritch. These avatars had to have been part of his group; Quatrich died just before Ilyana was born, so it was impossible.
"Check 'em for weapons." She hears from below. Tuk's cries for Kiri and Ilyana filled the far from peaceful atmosphere though Ilyana prayed to ewya that she wouldn't blow her cover.
"Be calm." Kiri told the girl.
"Shut up! Don't move the avatars ordered."
"What have we here?" The guy who looked to be the big boss asked his pack.
"Hey, Colonel... check it out. Four fingers."
Shit.
Ilyana looked down to her own set of four fingers and furrowed her brows.
"We got a half-breed."
The man looks at Kiri again as the other pulls her queue before turning around to face Lo'ak.
"Show me your fingers."
Lo'ak lifts up his hand flipping the man off.
"Your his, aren't you?" He says referring to their father, Jake Sully. Lo'ak hissed in response.
"You're his, all right."
In most cases, Ilyana would laugh at his foolish decision but this time she completely ignored it placing a arrow into her bow and releasing it landing right into one of the men.
Clean shot.
The man grabs her brothers queue.
"Where is he?"
"Sorry, I don't speak English.. to buttholes." Lo'ak replies in Na'vi.
"Where is your father?" The man says in Na'vi catching Lo'ak by surprise. Lo'ak hisses at the man hoping to cause a threat but failed at this.
"You wanna play it this way?" The man says taking a knife from his pocket and raising it towards her brothers face. The man raises it to his face before dropping the boy to the floor.
Ilyana moves along the branch accidentally blowing her own cover stepping on a branch.
"Anyone up there?" The man asks in hope for a response but Ilyana gives him none of the above. Ilyana releases an arrow at another man causing him to fall to the floor.
The man then walks over to Kiri placing a knife to her throat.
"You don't come out. I kill her and shoot down every tree in this forest to find you. You've already killed two of my men. You don't want one of your kind to be next." He threatens.
Ilyana's breath hitches as she makes her way to the floor with her knife out. The man catches her eye and orders one of his men to grab ahold of her. He steps over towards the elder girl.
"A spitting image of Sully's woman only with human features." He mutters staring at the girl before raising his knife to her.
"Hey! Hey, don't touch her!" Spider screams at the man.
"Don't hurt her, please." Lo'ak protests.
The man makes his way towards Spider.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Spider... Socorro."
The man raises his hand to tell the man holding up to let go before crouching down before him.
"Miles?"
"Nobody calls me that." Spider sasses.
"Well, I'll be damned. Well, I figured they sent you back to Earth."
"You can't put babies in cryo, dipshit."
The man raises his hand again telling him to restrain the boy once again.
"What are we doin', boss?"
"Iron Sky, Blue One, Actual." He says through his comms.
"We are standing by for extract, over."
"Be advised. We are bringin' in high value prisoners." They pushed the group of youngsters into the dirt restraining them with an orange band. Ilyana felt helpless, usually in cases like this she'd try to fight back however she just couldn't in this instance.
The man watches a video of what seemed to be a video of the final battle. An image of their mother came into frame.
"That's Sully's woman. She's an animal." Ilyana zoned out from the video. To be honest she didn't really want to see it. But she connected the dots and within minutes her suspicions were correct, that this man was Miles Quaritch. This left her confused though. She was sure that he died however long ago it was.
The light slowly left the sky and it became dusk. It now began to rain too.
"Watch out six." Ilyana hears from behind her.
The mood is somewhat lightened when the group hear the calls of Neytiri. A bow is released an lands right through the mans head who was holding Kiri and Spider releasing them.
"Contact rear!"
Gun shots are fired towards the trees by the men. Ilyana grabs her knife which they forget to take away from her and stabs the person holding her before running away from the scene. Her siblings simply bite the avatars and then run away. Ilyana, Lo'ak and Tuk run side by side in hope to get to safety. The trio sit behind a tree not far from the scene to catch their breath.
"That you, Mrs. Sully?" Quatrich asks, "I recognise your calling card... Why don't you come on out, Mrs. Sully."
"You and I, we got some unfinished business."
"Demon. I will kill you as many times as I have too." She shouts.
"I guess you and the Corporal have been pretty busy, haven't you? Dropped yourself a whole litter of... half breeds. Heck, even a daughter who's killed two of my men."
Ilyana's breath hitches for the third time that day. Lo'ak grabs her arm running further away from the scene. The trio are back on the run again.
"Go, go, go! Come on! Let's go!" Lo'ak urges running in front of the girls. He stops in his tracks when his father jumps out in front of him.
"Hey. Hey, it's okay. You hurt?" He asks Lo'ak who shakes his head. He makes his way over to Tuk and Ilyana asking if they're hurt to which they shake their heads. Tuk falls into her fathers arms breaking out into sobs. Once the ship leaves the family leave their hiding place.
"We're clear. Everyone okay?"
Jake pulls Lo'ak and Neteyam into a hug while Neytiri pulls all three of her girls into a hug.
"Oh, thank you, Great Mother. Thank you." She prays.
"Where's Spider?" Lo'ak queries.
"They took him." Kiri informs him, "They took him!" She repeats.
"Okay. It's all right, baby girl. All right, he's a tough kid. " He reassures her, "He's gonna be okay. We're all gonna be okay."
Neytiri who still had a grip onto Ilyana's shoulder rubbed it soothingly in hopes that she'll lighten up again.
Tuk and Ilyana look through a small hole between their families tent watching their parents argue.
"This thing. This Quaritch. Whatever he is... He's gonna walk right in. He can walk right under Ewya's nose."
Kiri motions for her brothers to come over and listen to the commotion.
"This is our family. This is our home." Their mother speaks up.
"This is about our family. This is about our little ones."
"I cannot. You cannot ask of this. I cannot leave my People. I will not."
"He's hunting us. He's targeting our family."
"You cannot ask this. The children. Everything they've ever known. The forest. This is our home!"
"He had our children. He had 'em under his knife!" Neytiri pauses at Jake's words. She walks over and grabs her fathers bow.
"My father gave me.. this bow as he lay dying. And he said protect the People. You're Toruk Makto!"
"This will protect the People! Quaritch has Spider. And that kid knows everything. He knows our whole operation... and he can lead them right in here. If the People harbour us, they will die. Do you understand?" Neytiri looks to the floor with nothing to say.
"Look, I got nothing. I got no plan. But I can protect this family. That I can do."
Their mother places a hand on her head letting tears escape her eyes as their father walks towards her placing his hands on her shoulders.
"But. I know one thing. Wherever we go... this family is our fortress." She says not another word and gets pulled in for a hug.