▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
( infiltration of the war )
AS YOU WERE able to regain your once lost consciousness after being dropped from dozens of feet from the air into the sea, you hastily scrambled to the surface and inhaled a heavy gulp of air.
your pupils traveled to recognize the large ship your siblings and tsireya were previously being carried toward, and you widened your eyes as you watched the situation occurring.
an army of metkayina had managed to swarm the now-flaming ship of humans and avatars, tens of smaller vessels littering the surrounding water as they attempted to fight back against the attacking na'vi.
the sky people's efforts proved to be fruitless versus the inhabitants of pandora as they were met with crushing defeats, many being stabbed with traditional metkayina weapons, or being shot at with what you could identify as your mother's arrows and your father's bullets.
with a final breath, you called for a nearby ilu, skillfully gripping onto the handle bridging between it's tendrils as it smoothly glided underneath you and carried on toward the raging battle field.
willing the animal on to where you identified the figures of your friend and siblings, you hurriedly charged toward the wreckage with eyebrows furrowed in tenaciousness, weaving around rogue pieces of debris submerged underneath the water around you.
finally making it to the port in which the three na'vi were restrained, you willed your ilu to shoot through the surface, allowing you to hop off of its back and grab onto a bar connected to the safety rail of the deck as it dropped back into the ocean with a large splash.
hoisting yourself up and over the edge with ease, you rushed toward the three with a relived sigh, whipping your head back around as another splash sounded out from the water below you. suddenly, neteyam joined your side after releasing his own ilu, meeting your eyes with a curt nod as tuk called out your names from her position between tsireya and lo'ak.
"hey, baby brother," the older boy slyly greeted, moving to free tuk from her bounds as you quickly made it to tsireya. "need some help?"
"thank eywa," you reveled through a shaky sigh, hastily unsheathing your dagger before crouching down to cut the restraints off of your reef girl with a grunt of effort.
she hurriedly backed away from the bar, looking to you with weary eyes as you met her stare with a concerned gaze. placing one hand against her cheek and another on her bicep, you quickly scanned her flesh for any injuries.
"are you all right?" you questioned, releasing a sigh as she nodded and moved to slide her arms around your torso in a hug of relief.
you wrapped an arm around her back just as neteyam managed to free your younger sister, beckoning her to the side as he rushed toward lo'ak next. breaking away from tsireya's hug, you turned to tuk, placing a hand on the back of her head as you pulled her into your side.
"tuk," you muttered through a comforted breath, placing a curt peck atop her hair before moving to face the two girls with a hard stare. "come on, we must go."
ushering tuk to walk in front of you with tsireya, you were forced to halt when a call of your name came from one of the two boys behind you. turning to them, you found lo'ak cradling an ar15 tightly to his chest with neteyam standing by his side.
"what are you doing?" you questioned with ruffled brows, glancing back toward the girls who were making their way to the water.
"they've got spider," your twin announced, prompting a curt breath to pass through your lips. "come on, we can't leave him."
as much as you hated to admit it, you knew your brother was right; you needed to save your human companion— knowing that he'd do the same for any one of you.
moving to follow after the two, you paused as yet another questioning voice called out for you from the sea. you turned, your gaze settling on tsireya as she peered over at you from the edge of the port with worried eyes.
"where are you going?" she questioned as you trekked back over toward her.
"they've taken our friend," you answered, glancing toward the inside of the wrecked ship. "we need to get him back."
"but- but it's too dangerous," tsireya proclaimed, her eyebrows raising in panic as she eyed the walled-in section. "what if something happens?"
your eyes softened at her understandable concern, wondering how one person could make you feel so deeply cared for with just a simple sentence.
"take this," you replied, reaching for a thin necklace bound around your throat.
it was a woven piece of jewelry you had crafted with your parents many years ago back in vayaha, brown leather braided into an intricate pattern with small beads tucked between the fabric. at the front hung a small tooth from a flying predator that you couldn't quite remember the name of, one you had hunted with your father and older brother a few days prior.
you held the object very dear to your heart since it was made after a particularly rough raid that your father had led, and he and your mother decided that spending some time with their children was in order.
while the rest of your siblings had gone to bed after deciding to scrap their own crafts, you fought against the call of sleep, staying up with jake and neytiri to hear of the exchanges between your people and the humans while they assisted you in creating your piece of desired jewelry.
the pair talked into the night about moments from a more distant time; a time before you and your brothers and sisters, a time before all of the war carried out in your home.
while the necklace wasn't remarkable in a way that could be designated as fairly important, you held it close to you, under the earliest and most loving memory that you had with both of your parents.
as you grew, the necklace seemed to shrink, and while it was once a rather long leather-bound string that dangled a few inches above your clavicle, you now sported it as a choker, of sorts.
"i've had this for a long time," you spoke, removing the item from around your neck to gently place it in tsireya's palm. "so watch over it for me, okay?"
"your necklace?" the metkayina questioned with furrowed brows, the time she had voiced her inquires about the object during one of your private meetings coming to mind at the particular moment. "but... this is important to you."
"i will be back for it, alright?" you quipped with a reassuring smile. "and i'll be back for you."
the reef teen stared at you with glossy eyes full of weary, her pupils moving to rest between the piece of jewelry in her hands and your promising gaze. then suddenly, she leaned forward, connecting her lips with yours in a kiss laced with remnants of strengthening hope and gleaming promise.
your palm moved to softly cup her cheek in a gentle hold, your own body subconsciously leaning forward to capture more of her touch.
after a few seconds, she slowly pulled away, holding your necklace in a tight fist as you hazily opened your eyes to stare back at her.
"guess the water girl really does know how to hold her breath," you playfully retorted, releasing a small huff of air as tsireya let out a light laugh before gesturing further toward the ship with her head.
"go."
giving her a nod of reply, you sent her one last smile before hitting at neteyam's chest with the back of your hand, ushering the two boys on as they watched your exchange with wide eyes and small smirks.
"so, when's the mating ceremony?" your eldest signing quipped, earning a scoff as you rolled your eyes and carried on.
"now i know what you guys were up to during all those private breathing lessons," lo'ak slyly added from your other side, and you refrained from reaching out to shoving him into the water below. "rotxo owes me a new hunting spear."
you simply shook your head, dashing on through the vessel with only the feeling of tsireya's lips over yours on your mind. "skxawngs."
𓆝 𓆛 𓆞
a slight pain pricked at the tips of your fingers as you clung onto the underlying edge of a support beam horizontally placed below a ceiling, your body completely parallel to the ground while you used the once-forgotten strength gained from years of forest-living to tightly hold yourself up against the old metal.
boat personnel and soldiers alike scurried along the floor of the slowly sinking ship, frantically attempting to make it to the designated life boats stationed at separate docking points of the ship as you and your brothers climbed along the ceiling to avoid being spotted by any guards.
with a surprisingly successful journey, the three of you ventured up toward a bright balcony overlooking the lower level of the ship, pausing at an edge as a group of humans containing two workers and a pair of soldiers made their way down the hall.
narrowing your gaze, you spoofed the familiar head of disheveled blonde hair from in front of your twin.
"he's there," came your announcement in determined whisper, turning to face your siblings. "ready?"
the na'vi nodded, their own stares tight with resolve as you three turned back to the group of sky people finally rounding the corner.
with one last nerve-soothing breath passing through your nostrils, you quickly unsheathed the dagger strapped to your thigh, hopping off of the perch with a guttural snarl as you landed between spider and his captors.
lifting your hand in a curt motion, you harshly shoved a human into a nearby wall, not waiting to see if he would get back up as you brought your attention to a soldier panically aiming his gun at your significantly taller figure.
through an effortless act, you quickly shot foward and tossed the man over the safety rails of the floor, ducking just as another charged at you with a raised weapon before you flipped him over your back and sent him toppling over the edge.
just as you turned to see if there were any more attacking humans, the scarring sound of gunfire sounded out from a few paces in front of you.
whipping your head from its position trained on the hallway, you digested the scene of your brother's bewildered figure with an ar tightly gripped between his balled palm, towering over the lifeless and bullet-punctured body of one of the humans.
the moment you spent staring at the bloodied and motionless sky person felt a lot longer than it took place in actuality, spider's distant ushering knocking you out of your daze as your gaze traveled from the still corpse to lo'ak's stunned silhouette.
"come on," you quietly spoke, reaching for your brother's wrist to hastily guide him away from his kill. "let's go."
though you had witnessed the murders of sky people before, even killings of your own na'vi, something about this one felt different— like it bore a warning, of some sort.
following after neteyam and spider, you couldn't help but notice the knowing feeling of an imminent danger looming over your mind while running through the ship's interior.
and carrying on through the sinking heap of metal, you knew that something was going to happen soon, and whatever it was, wasn't going to be pretty.
༄