Say Her Name (Neteyam x OC)

❝𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷 - 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝙽𝚊'𝚟𝚒❞ ✧ ೃ༄

"I've been trying to call you!" Tsireya gestured hovering over me, asking me to follow her. We swam to the surface. "Look, apparently there's Na'vi from a different clan" she said excitedly, as she pointed to a family of weird looking Na'vi standing next to their ikrans.

"Come on, let's greet them!" She exclaimed, taking my hand. Everyone swam to the crowd that was forming, as we did too. I couldn't help but feel anxious because of the new arrival. New people meant questions, judgement and maybe teasing. I didn't like it one bit.

The group forming around the little family grew, discomfort was written all over their faces.
As we stepped out of the water, I saw one of the Na'vi eyeing Tsireya.
He was a young boy, around our age I'd say. She clearly seemed smitten with him, especially because he went out of his way to greet her only.

I felt relieved to see the attention wasn't on me.
I quickly walked towards my people and thats when I felt the stares of another Na'vi on me.
He looked somewhat older than the other boy.
When our eyes met, he quickly looked away.
He seemed curious about me.

You know, for some context, I looked a little different than the others.
I had white hair and white eyelashes, as well as white patches on the stripes that were all over my skin.

Back when i was little, I never really thought about it, possibly didn't even notice it, until other kids started making fun of me.
Calling me a demon and saying one of my parents was a sky person, that my parents were lying as a cover up.
It was cruel.

My parents figured it was a birth defect, a mutation of some sort. I was perfectly healthy though, so they didn't worry.
But I hated it. I just wanted to fit in.

Besides, looking like that really made me worry I'd never find a mate. I was still young yes, but things wouldn't change for me I thought. My clan people didn't like me.
If that's how they felt about me now then thats how they'd feel in 5 years as well.

I stood next to some girls as I watched Leader Tonowari get off his tsurak. Ronal also stepped out of the crowd.
"Their arms are thin. Their tails are weak." She said, grabbing them in a not so gentle way.

"These children are not even true Na'vi!" She exclaimed. "They have demon blood!"
The boy looked down in discomfort.
He had 5 long and narrow fingers instead of four, so did his sister.

The older boy, he really had the prettiest green eyes. Just like his mother.
His whole body was so slender, his arms, his torso and his tail.
They looked so different and I loved how they stood up against the hostility of Ronal.
I guessed they were forest people, unsure of what clan they belonged to.

I caught myself staring and so I snapped out of it.
"Toruk Makto and his family will stay with us. Treat them as our brothers and sisters." He said as the man called Toruk Makto's facial expressions softened. "Teach them our ways so they do not suffer the shame of being useless."

I admit, I had great respect for the family. They must be very skilled and strong back in the forest.
Here however, they were as skilled as a fish on land.

They thanked Tonowari and Ronal, Tsireya offered to show them the village.
I stayed back as I watched them walk away. Tsireya gestured a "come with me", I hesitated but decided to follow her.

She lead me to them and so we greeted each other.
"I'm Neteyam, this is my brother Lo'ak. The little girl over there is my sister Tuk and that's my sister Kiri" the boy said.
I watched them all smile at me one after another. They seemed very friendly.
"My name is Yui'ki. It's very nice to meet you. I hope me and Tsireya can teach you more about the water."
I said, trying to maintain eye contact with Neteyam.

I decided to say my goodbyes and went to my room as Tsireya showed them around, my social battery was already empty.

The next day Aonung, Rotxo, Tsireya and me decided to swim with them a bit. I didn't like that Aonung and Rotxo where there as well, but I guess I could live with it.
Tsireya asked me to come with her, because she, as she said 'wouldn't be able to handle everyone on her own'.
I guess Aonung and Rotxo didn't count as help.

"Hey, what's she doing here? Teaching people about or home when she's not even one of us." Aonung said, Rotxo broke out in laughter.
I hissed at him.

"I'm sure even you can learn alot of things from her.
Manners being the first thing."
I heard Neteyam say behind him, arms crossed.
Aonung just rolled his eyes.

I felt my face heat up as I quickly turned away, hoping we'd jump in the water soon.
Tsireya had smirk on her face.

I was the first one to jump, and so I dove as deep as I could.
The others quickly followed suit.
Under the water I watched the four forest people admire all the little sea creatures. Especially Kiri seemed to be excited.

I found myself watching Neteyam as he swam up to the surface. The others swam further and so I stayed back with him a little as he caught his breath.

"Are you alright? You seem exhausted." I asked him as he struggled to stay afloat.
"Just tired" he said.
"I think I'm gonna go back, I don't really have the energy to do this today" his facial expression seemed disappointed.
I wondered what troubled him but didn't ask, as I didn't want to pry.

I nodded and so we swam back to shore. I noticed that he had his eyes on the others.
"You know, we can try this again tomorrow. So you can keep up with the others" I reassured him. He smiled at me warmly.

On shore he thanked me for accompanying him and said he'd go back to his room, so I left too. I felt a little bad for leaving Tsireya alone like that, but I wasn't in the mood for swimming now either.
That night I kept thinking about our interactions. He was really nice to me.

────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────

Thank you for reading the first chapter, I hope you liked it.

First of all I just wanted to say the "birth defect" I had in mind is just albinism and/or vitiligo, I thought the Na'vi wouldn't really know what that is so I just called it that!
I hope no one gets offended 😭 albinism, vitiligo and conditions alike are genuinely beautiful and I will get that message across as the story progresses!
Secondly, I noticed earlier that someone already had the idea of an Albino Na'vi and I genuinely didn't know, I thought I was being original :(
just know I wasn't trying to copy anyone!

see you in chapter 2 <3