The rain woke Beatrice up once again, anxiety building in her stomach quickly. She rushed out of Neteyams arms as fast as she could, running out of their marui and throwing up, unable to stop herself. Neteyam shuffled out of the marui quietly, rubbing his eyes as he found Beatrice leaning over her knees.
"Ma'Bea? What is the matter?" Neteyam asked softly, his husky voice still deep from sleep causing shivers to fall down Beatrices spine.
"Something bad is going to happen, Tey.." Beatrice whispered, wiping her mouth before looking at Neteyam sadly. He tsked quietly, pulling her into his arms and kissing the top of her head.
"Nothing bad could happen today, my love. It is the greatest day in the world. It is your birthday, my sweet." He murmured quietly, giving her a toothy grin. She groaned as Neteyam ignored her anxiety, sighing as she allowed him to pull her back into the marui. He made her sit and relax while he started the fire, both of their ears twitching as they heard footsteps heading their way.
Tuk ran through the entrance, Kiri not far behind, tackling Beatrice in a tight hug. "Happy birthday Bea!!" Tuk screamed in her ear, causing Beatrice to laugh and shake her head, thanking Tuk with a grin. Kiri was much more kind with her hug, still squeezing Beatrice tightly. Beatrice smiled as Jake and Neytiri walked in, carrying supplies for breakfast, Beatrices mouth watering slightly at the sight of the ingredients for her favorite meal from the forest. The two older Na'vi wished her a happy birthday, getting to work on teaching Neteyam how to make this specific dish. Kiri and Tuk kept Beatrice busy showing her what they had made her, but even the distraction from the girls couldnt stop Beatrice from looking at the entrance to the pod every other moment. She could feel her heart break more each time, realizing Lo'ak was not going to come. She sighed softly to herself, Neteyam noticing, but being thankful for his little sisters who immediately captured her attention once again. He was going to beat Lo'aks ass the next time he saw him.
After Beatrices birthday breakfast, the family chatting happily, Beatrice still could not shake the bad feeling from her gut. Her breath hitched in her throat as a horn sounded out, the family looking to each other confused. Neteyam looked at Beatrice with wide eyes, seeing Beatrices eyes filling with tears as she ran out of the pod. She could hear wails coming from the Metkayina, seeing people jumping into the water and swimming out past the barrier on ilus. She quickly dived in, clicking for an ilu and taking off to find the cause. Neteyam right on her heels, the rest of the family following behind them.
Beatrice shortly joined the large group surrounding a tulkun, Beatrice taking a moment to realize the tulkun was murdered. A hand came to her mouth as she recognized the tulkun, tears falling like a river as Ronal came forward. Ronal let out a scream of heartbreak, swimming to her spirit sister and sobbing. Something floating nearby caught Beatrices eye, looking over and seeing her calf dead, next to his mother. Beatrice felt the nausea building up once more, Neteyam coming to her side and comforting her as best as he could, looking at his parents shocked.
"Tonowari, what is this?!" Ronal shouted, her body still racking with sobs. She turned towards her People, looking over and begging anyone for an explanation. "What is this?!" She screamed, a sob slipping from Beatrices lips. Ronal looked at her with such heartbreak, Beatrice giving her a mournful look as she cried with her. Ronal screamed once more as she hugged her spirit sisters body, the clan crying with their Tsahik.
"This is not the end." Beatrice whispered to Neteyam softly, quiet sobs still shaking her body as Neteyam held on to her the best he could. Neteyam could do nothing except kiss her head, swallowing roughly at her words.
After the clan mourned the Composer of Songs for a few hours, slowly the People followed after Ronal as she made her way back to the village. Beatrice barely noticed Neteyam go to his parents, the woman following after Ronal closely as Tonowari called a clan meeting. Everyone was shouting and yelling with anger, overwhelming Beatrice immensely. Her eyes found a crying Tsireya, immediately making her way over to the young girl and holding her gently, the girls crying together. Beatrice didnt even notice Jake run into the meeting, Neteyam following after him holding a red object. Jake immediately tried to get everyone to calm down, shouting that fighting isnt the answer.
"My spirit sister and her baby have been murdered by the Sky People!" Ronal retaliated to Jake, tears still streaming down her face.
"This war has come to us!" Tonowari exclaimed, his People getting riled up. "We knew of this hunting of our tulkun people! But it was over the horizon, far away. Now, it is here!" The clan started letting out war cries, hollering out.
"No, you dont.. you gotta understand how the Sky People think. They dont care about the Great Balance!" Jake tried to cut in, someone from the clan yelling that they do not listen to the Sky People. Tsireya squeezed Beatrices arm gently, cuddling into her arms more as the People became more angry.
"Listen! Listen to him!" Neteyam shouting, Beatrice noticing his nose scrunching in frustration.
"The Sky People are not going to stop! This is only the beginning." Jake continued, raising his hands to try and calm everyone down. "You gotta tell your tulkun to leave! You gotta tell them to go far away!" Jake shouted, turning to look at everyone around him.
"Leave?!" Ronal scoffed, anger setting into her face. "You live among us, and you learn nothing!" She cried, people shouting around her.
"We will fight to protect or brothers and sisters!" A warrior yelled out, the People screaming with him and letting out war cries.
"No no no! If you attack, if you attack, then they will destroy you! They will destroy everything you love!" Jake retaliated, pointing to Ronals swollen belly. Her hand immediately came up to rest on her baby, gasping softly.
"Hear my words! Hear my words!" Jake shouted, trying to get people to listen to him. Beatrices head pounded at the screams, clutching onto Tsireya tightly as people started to knock into them.
"Calm! Calm! Listen to my father!" Neteyam joined in, raising his hands trying to calm people down. The red item in his hand still glistened with water, catching Jakes eye. "Listen to my father! He speaks the truth!"
"Damn it!" Jake yelled, reaching forward and grabbing the red item from Neteyams hand. Jake jumped up to where Tonowari stood, raising the item up high so everyone could see it. Everyone immediately went silent as they saw it, terror rising in their body. Ronal clutched onto Tonowaris arm tightly, Beatrice trying to soothe the scared girl in her arms.
"You tell your tulkun that if they are hit with one of these, they are marked for death." Jake stressed, showing it to everyone around them. The clan started looking around to each other, reality setting in. "Call for me, i will silence it." Jake looked at the People defeated, sighing loudly. "Saving their lives, thats all that matters! Right? Saving your family." Jake softened his tone, looking at Tonowari and Ronal sadly. The two looked between each other, finally understanding why Jake and his family moved from the forest. Tonowari took another step, hitting his staff onto the woven path.
"Tell the tulkun." He demanded, his People starting to move.
"Go!" Ronal shouted everyone hurrying off to catch their brothers and sisters before they were too far in their migration. Beatrices attention pulled away from the Tsahik, noticing Lo'ak running off quickly. She let go of Tsireya, running off after Lo'ak with Neteyam on her heels.
Beatrice chased after Lo'ak, finally catching up to him as he was placing a saddle onto an ilu.
"Lo'ak.." Beatrice called softly, causing Lo'ak to stop and turn with a sigh. Neteyam walked up behind Beatrice, stepping in front of her slightly.
"No way you are rolling out of here, baby brother." Neteyam spoke, Lo'ak swinging his arms angrily.
"I have to warn Payakan about the pingers." Lo'ak tried to explain, pointing to the sea. Beatrice took a deep breath, realizing Lo'ak was right.
"No. You have to keep your skxawng ass here." Neteyam stayed, pointing to the village.
"Neteyam." Beatrice called softly, her voice falling on deaf ears.
"He is an outcast. There is nobody to warn him except me." Lo'ak stressed, Beatrice seeing the anxiety growing in his eyes. She stepped forward, gently grabbing Lo'aks hand.
"We will find a way to tell him, Lo'ak. But we need to stay here." Beatrice tried to explain, flinching as Lo'ak ripped his hand from hers. Neteyam snapped at Lo'ak at his actions, Beatrice placing her hand on Neteyams side to calm him.
"Bro, why do you have to make everything so hard?" Neteyam asked, placing his hand on Lo'aks head. Lo'ak brushed his older brothers hand off his hand, getting into his face.
"No, you mean why can i not be the perfect son, like you?" Lo'ak retaliated again, Beatrices ears lowering. Neteyam took a couple steps back, nodding his head angrily as Beatrice saw the hurt cross over her loves face. "The perfect little soldier. Well i am not you!" Lo'ak shouted, Neteyam coming back and getting into his baby brothers face. Lo'ak took a step back, staring his brother in his eyes. "Okay? I am not you!"
"Lo'ak, i see you. We can figure this out together, okay?" Beatrice cut in, trying to get in between the brothers. Lo'ak turned to her, anger in his eyes.
"No!" Lo'aks voice cracked, pointing at Beatrice. "If you did, you would have kept my secret! You have never seen me! You are a liar!" He shouted in her face, causing Beatrice to flinch back as tears rose in her eyes. Lo'ak stared at her for a moment, his eyes softening before turning. "He is my brother, he sees me! I am going!" Beatrice flinched at his words, noticing Neteyam flinching as well.
Neteyam stepped forward again, trying to grab Lo'ak. "Oh, he is your brother? No! I am your brother!" Neteyam looked into Lo'aks eyes, letting him see the sadness behind his words.
"Lo'ak!" Beatrice heard Tsireya call out, her, Roxto, and Aonung gliding up on ilus. They quickly climbed onto the woven path, Lo'ak ripping his arm from his brothers grip.
"Get off me!" Lo'ak shouted, diving into the water and climbing onto his ilu, taking off. Beatrice immediately jumped in after him, grabbing onto an ilu and taking off after him as Neteyam and the others followed after him, running into Kiri and Tuk with them following after.
The chase was short, Beatrice surfacing as soon as Lo'ak did, shouting his name loudly. He looked behind him, shaking his head at Beatrice before calling out for Payakan. Payakan quickly surfaced, letting out distressed calls and flapping his fin anxiously. Beatrice scrunched her eyebrows as she witnessed it, racing over and climbing in top of Payakan with Lo'ak as the others got close to them.
"Shit!" The two yelled out as they saw the pinger at the same time, both immediately trying to pull it out.
"Just go away, Beatrice! I do not want to be around you right now!" Lo'ak shouted as they worked together to pull the pinger out.
"Deal with it, Lo'ak! It is my birthday, i can do whatever i want! Despite what you think, i love you and i see you! You will always be my brother, now shut up and pull!" Beatrice screamed back at him, Lo'ak staring at her for a moment before going back to pulling. As the others joined them, Lo'ak stepped back for a break, finally noticing the ship heading straight towards them.
"Shit!" Lo'ak yelled out again, Neteyam looking over where he was looking before looking back at his baby brother.
"Lo'ak, call it in! Bea! Someone call it in!" Neteyam shouted anxiously, going to his ilu and grabbing rope from the saddle. As Lo'ak called his parents on his mic, Neteyam wrapped the rope around the pinger before hopping back onto the ilu, everyone pulling at the same time. Beatrice turned her head to look at the ship heading towards them, fear filling her as she realized this was what her gut feeling was trying to warn her about.
"Ma'Teyam!" Beatrice screamed, fear laced in her voice causing Neteyam to pull harder. They all fell as the pinger finally shot out, everyone immediately jumping into the water. Beatrice grabbed Lo'ak and pushed him into the water, jumping onto their ilus as Lo'ak told Payakan to dive.
"Go that way! I will draw them out!" Neteyam shouted, his eyes landing on Beatrice last. She looked at him, expressing her fears before he nodded at her. "I love you!" He shouted to her before diving, Beatrices heart snapping before she dived, following Lo'ak and Tsireya.
She should have said it back.
uh ohhhhh its happeningggg