Eywa's Will (Tsu'tey x OC)

Chapter 16 - Her

"Me too." Tsu'tey said as he looked down at his dried muddy arms.

Jake was already diving into the water head first as Esnä watched him with a smile.

"You sure seem to be in a better mood, about two hours ago you were ready to die." I said while grinning at him.

He looked at me awkwardly and then chuckled.
"I guess I can be, quite dramatic." With that he jumped into the water and began splashing Jake.

"It is like he was not hurt at all." Tsu'tey said as he watched. His eyes were calculated and articulate, none of us knew Esnä well enough to understand his thought process.

"I am sure it was not that serious to begin with." I giggled and walked into the water with Tsu'tey not far behind.

Immediately the dirt and sweat melted off my body, being out of the water for so long made me feel dry and icky. I ducked my head under and began swimming around to look at the plants, there were all kinds of mosses and seaweed that glowed bright shades of green and purple. I smiled devilishly when I spotted Jake's tush, I swam up to him and smacked it as hard as I could. I heard him howling while Tsu'tey and Esnä laughed. I was giggling so hard that I nearly choked on the water. I came up for air just in time to see Jake retreat with his hands on his ass.
———

As we gathered around the campfire to eat, Jake began to tell us stories about the place he once called home.

"They called it Earth." He said as he took a bite of his fish. "Basically a pile of hot garbage."

"What is it like?" I asked.

Jake chuckled, "Well, it's got nothing on Pandora I'll tell you that." there was a sadness in his gaze as he looked up into the night sky. "Where I come from you can't see the stars"

"Why would skywalkers destroy their Mother?" The entire concept of it disturbed me.

"Because they're evil." Esnä said, he looked towards Jake like he was expecting him to protest, but Jake just nodded his head.

"You can't find many good ones, they either die young or get killed." He said while stabbing at his fish.

"Someone you loved died." I said as I read his body language.

He looked up and me with a surprised expression then laughed. "Yeah, funny thing is if he didn't die then I would've never came to Pandora." He pursed his lips and sighed. "Tommy, he was a good kid, he grew up to be a great man. He was my brother, though the only thing similar between us was our faces." Jake smiled brightly as he remembered his brother.

"I wonder how your worlds Mother feels about all those changes." Esnä said.

"Oh nah nah, they killed our Mother. To be honest I didn't exactly do much to help save her, I didn't believe it back then."

"Believe what?" I asked.

"I didn't believe in gods or deities, the afterlife. A higher being that looked over the rest of us idiots."

"Maybe it is not the same on every, what was the word? Oh, planet. Maybe your planet never had a mother."

"I don't know." Jake said sadly.

"I do, every round ball in the sky that holds life has a creator to thank." Said Esnä.

"What proof do you have?" Tsu'tey chimed in.

"Who knows." Esnä said smugly while laying back.

Tsu'tey scowled and turned his head.

"And the wildlife? What of it?"

"There's no such thing as wildlife where I come from. Maybe once, but that was a long time ago. Hell, even owning a tree is considered a luxury."

"Are you kidding me?"

Jake shook his head.

"Well you are right, that place has got nothing on Pandora." I was stunned, a place like that can hardly be called alive.

"Let us get to sleep, we have a long ways to go tomorrow." Tsu'tey huffed.

I poured water over the campfire and we all settled down. As I stared into the bright night sky I could not help but wonder, who would I be if I were born there.
———

I woke up late into the night at the sound of soft footsteps, opening my eyes I saw Tsu'tey walking towards the waterfall. slowly I got up and followed him, he disappeared behind the water. I waited for a while but he did not come out, so I went in. My eyes lit up as I saw Tsu'tey sitting on the wet stone while weaving a strand of grass. I smiled and slapped the wall, causing him to jump.

He glared at me and rolled his eyes.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, while sitting down beside him.

"Making a bracelet." He responded.

"Oh? For who?"

Beside him in a small leather pouch were beautiful round green beads. One after another he wove them into the delicate design of the bracelet.

"Nobody really." He said quietly, but even I knew who that bracelet was for.

"Sylwanin." I said softly.

He stopped weaving for a moment then nodded his head.

"I make one every year, on the day of her birth." He said while focusing.

I smiled warmly, but deep down my heart hurt.
———
Jake's POV

"Wake up!" Esnä whispered to me as he shoved at my shoulder.

"Ahh what?" I said while rubbing my head.

"Look." He pointed towards the waterfall, behind the glowing wall were two figures cuddled close together.

I looked to where Tsu'tey and Awa'iti were sleeping to find them missing.

"Do you think they're..." Esnä said while smirking.

I shook my head. "No."

"What makes you say that?"

"Even if Tsu'tey liked Awa'iti, which I'm pretty sure he does, he's not... emotionally available."

Esnä cocked his head in curiosity.

I sighed. "Tsu'tey's heart is stuck in the past."

"Ohhh, a dead lover?"

"Mmm yeah, it's not really my place to say anything."

"Oh come on, tell me." Esnä said, he stared into my eyes and right through my soul.

I blinked and shook my head. "Uh, her name was Sylwanin, she was Tsahik in training before she died."

"Interesting," Esnä said while thinking.

Something about him made it hard to say no. It was kind of terrifying, almost like I was just as easy for him to manipulate as the vines in that forest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Awa'iti POV

"You must have cared for her very much."

"Yes well, even though she was promised to me by her father we grew very close." He said while reminiscing.

I nodded my head and sat up. As I began to walk out from under the waterfall I looked back once more to study him. It hurt me a bit to know that I was losing to a girl who was not even alive, but then again, watching him be so loyal to her was incredibly infatuating. I walked back to the camp and saw Esnä and Jake quickly lay down and pretend to be asleep. I scowled and kicked Jake slightly, he chuckled, but did not move for the rest of the night.