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SALT WATER surrounded Ilyana's mouth as she grimaced at the taste. She knew her brothers going back to fetch Spider wasn't a smart idea; if anything, it was common sense. The ship was covered deck to deck with Sky People, ready to fight and kill her family. On the other hand, Ilyana considered her ikran, Rä with whom she had only shared leftovers from supper during the previous few months. She missed riding the animal through the air. She cherished and treasured the Ikran races that she and Neteyam belonged to.
As she got closer to the coast, Ilyana's breath got short. She hurried back to her Mauri pod with just one goal in mind as soon as her feet reached the sand. When she got there, she secretly glanced at the Toruk Makto toy on the shelf, almost as if it would give her motivation to continue fighting. She seized her extra knife and inserted it into her sheath. The sun almost made Ilyana blind her by shining directly into her eyes as the eclipse drew closer. Her gaze immediately fell upon Rä. She approached the animal and comfortingly rubbed its neck.
"Hey." She murmurs to the creature in a voice that was nearly whisper-like.
Within seconds, she was in the sky, her eyes almost glued to the demon ship. Those damn selfish demons that Ilyana hated so much 'Penis faces' are what Lo'ak would call them, and the list would've gone on for a long time. It was now completely dark, and there were multiple spots in the ocean that almost looked like the stars were swimming at full speed. Ilyana saw a figure on shore loaded with leather ammo packs decorated across its body. For a second, the eldest sully girl thought it was an avatar, but after squinting her eyes some more, she soon realised it was her father. Her eyes drifted back to the figures moving in the water, and she soon realised it was her brother, Loak, followed by Tsireya. But she soon realised that they were holding a body.
"Shit, Lo'ak." Ilyana mumbles to herself, "Shit. She repeats it in panic.
Her mind pondered again. Neteyam.
Ilyana didn't even want to think about how quick it took for her ikran's feet to touch the ground. She ran towards her family. She didn't care how hard she was panting; she needed to know if her brothers were okay.
Once she arrived, she saw that anklet and knew exactly who it was.
"It's okay, bro. We've got you." Ilyana heard Lo'ak's voice as she kneeled down at her twins feet. Jake turned the boy's body over and grimaced at the sight, as did Ilyana.
"Oh my shit, Tey. What happened?" Ilyana asked; her question was mainly aimed at Lo'ak.
The younger boy took notice of her presence and flashed a sad smile at her. Tears releasing from his tearducts.
"Oh no." Jake whispers as Neteyam's breaths become faster. "Put pressure. Put pressure on it." Jake said to his son, guiding his hands to Neteyam's shotgun wound.
"It's okay. I'm here." Jake spoke softly.
Neytiri's ikran soon landed beside Ilyana's as the woman rapidly made her way beside her mate.
"No, no, no, no."
"It's okay."
"I want to go home." Neteyam gasps, struggling to release his words. He looked at his sister, knowing they shared the exact same feeling. She wanted to go home too.
"I know, I know. We're goin' home. Jake's voice quivers. "We're going home."
"Neteyam, you're going to be all right. Ilyana's voice shook in the enclosed space. She knew that was a lie, but she could only hope that she was wrong.
"It's okay. It's okay." Jake reassured his son once again. Ilyana had her arms wrapped loosely around Neteyam's lower arm soothing rubbing it much like he once did to her.
"Dad, I..."
And there it was. Neteyam's last breath.
"Neteyam." Neytiri whispers.
Ilyana side glanced Lo'ak looking at his bloodstained hands.
"No. No, no, no. Neteyam!" A mothers screams filled the area. "Oh, Great Mother."
Lo'ak stared at his only brother eyes filled with guilt and tears. He looked to the sky wishing it was a dream, a hallucination but no hope. It was war they were in this was the reality.
"Lo'ak." Ilyana called her brother's name. He looked as if he were ignoring her, though he was at all just completely out of it, dissociating himself from any of the voices surrounding him.
"Where are your sisters?" Jake asked his two children, who were opposed to him, with absolutely no emotion displayed on his face. The duo stayed silent, as if he weren't speaking to them. "Your sisters. Where are they?" He asks again, his voice getting more stern.
"Dad, we don't know." Ilyana mumbles in guilt; she had one job. To protect them, and she failed that.
"Where are they?" He shouts, getting more agitated.
"They're tied up on the ship." Tsireya answers the former Toruk Makto.
"They're... They're at the moon pool." Spider voices as Jake places a hand on his arm. "At the well deck. Midships."
"What?"
"Come on. I'll show you." Spider grabs Jake's arm, dragging him off his feet.
Jake pushes his son and daughter out of the way, trying to reach his mate. Ilyana would've spoken up about it but chose not to follow the current circumstances.
"Lo'ak." Ilyana calls the second time, but this time he answers.
"What." His voice was shaken as he choked on a sob. He faced the girl, tears streaming down his face. She led the boy to the ocean, helping to wash off their brothers blood from his hands.
"You're braver than you know, Lo'ak." Ilyana compliments him, attempting to lighten his mood. She obviously felt horrible about her twins deaths; in fact, she felt like she lost a part of herself, but there was still a war. A conflict occurred, and their sisters were at risk.
"You stay with your brother." Jake orders his son and daughter.
"Dad, I want to go with you." Lo'ak says desperately.
"You've done enough." He grumbles, turning to face Spider.
"Dad." Lo'ak sighs as Ilyana grabs his arm, pulling him down beside their brother.
"Stay with him." Lo'ak says to Tsireya and Ilyana, rushing off before the two girls could say anything.
"Tsireya, I promise you. We'll be back. We'll both be." Ilyana reassures with the exact same thought on her mind. She waits for the younger girl to nod as Ilyana gives her shoulder a soft squeeze before getting on her Ikran and flying into the sky once again.
Ilyana landed on the ship seconds after she spotted her younger sisters.
"Yana!" She heard Tuk whisper her name.
The girl tiptoed her way towards the two girls, her knife out on display.
"Shush." She softly shushes her sisters, attempting not to get caught despite Quaritch standing a couple of metres away from them. Just as she tries to cut Kiri's cuffs, the man turns around.
"What's up, Mini Neytiri. We meet again." He welcomes her with a sarcastic tone. The girl hissed at him, her knife pointed in his direction.
She ran to him, slicing his arm and leg, followed by continuously punching him. She knew it wasn't enough. But she had to try; she came here to get her sisters, and if this is what she had to do, so be it.
"You little shit." He shouts, his face wincing in pain. Ilyana ran over to the corner of the room, grabbing a gun and aiming it at the man's head. She had never been good with guns; bows were more her thing, but she stupidly left her bow back at the pod.
"You shoot me. My whole squad will come and get you and kill you too." The man looked at the girl hand on his hip and gun aimed at her.
"Fuck you, Penis Face." She hisses at the man, then shoots the bullet as it grazes his arm.
"Fuck you too." He mumbles, shooting the gun at her. His aim was much better than Ilyana's. Ilyana noticed he was nearing her side as she stood there, stunned. He then released the bullet, shooting it at her ear. She felt the impact as he then released another bullet into her abdomen.
"Shit." She cursed and looked down at her stomach. Quaritch grabs her arm, chucking her into the water.
"Ilyana!" She watched as her sisters screamed her name.
She struggled holding her breath under the water swam as fast as she could to the surface, trying her absolute best to tread water despite her injuries. The crimson-red blood trickled out of all kinds of wombs decorated across her body—one just on her collarbone, another on the side of her ear, but the most severe on her stomach, which was deep and bled out at every breath she took. Behind her danced Quaritch's ship, which had caused all the terror not long before. Ilyana was stranded, alone, and upset. Those were the only three words she could think of in those moments, and after that, she was overloaded with the pain of losing her twin brother. She thought back to how different she was when they arrived at the Metkayina—how different he was, and that worried her. She couldn't even say goodbye.
Her legs were getting tired as minutes went on, stopping Ilyana's strength to keep going. Her body found itself on its back in an attempt to float its way to safety, but her panicked breaths caused her chin to make its way just above water once again. She turned back to the ship, watching as the flames burned it down bit by bit and it sank deeper and deeper. Multiple pieces of metal shot out of the ship as it broke bit by bit. Ilyana's breath soon sort of caught up with herself, and she attempted to swim further away from the scene and closer to the shore as something landed on her back, causing her to wince and turn back to look at it. Her eyesight became fuzzy and dark in some spots, making the girl panic even more. And with that, everything went black.
HARLS speaks!
sorry😭