Say Her Name (Neteyam x OC)

❝𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟻 - 𝙲𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎❞ ✧ ೃ༄

"I'm telling you guys, he saved my life! He's my friend" My brother insisted. I didn't understand how he had the nerve to say he'd knew the tulkun better than the Metkayina clan themselves.
"My baby bro, the mighty warrior who faced the killer tulkun" I said, lightly provoking him. He looked at me with disappointment in his face.
"You guys aren't listening" He answered, upset.
I let him go whilst the others kept telling him to come back.
I trusted the Metkayina judgement to know what animal is to be trusted with and which not.

Later in the day, Tsireya decided to show us the Sea people's Spirit tree.
I was disappointed in my brother that he still hadn't gotten back but I shook it off.

Yui'Ki and me decided to ride her ilu together, she said it'd help her to keep an eye on Aonung.
She didn't trust him, quite frankly she was scared after what he did.

Turns out, Aonung didn't even join us. Neither Yui'Ki nor me said anything though, so we still shared the space on the ilu.
Every now and then I turned around to see her smiling at me. It was good I was at front, or she'd see my flustered face.

"We are here. This is the cove of the ancestors" Tsireya said as we all admired the beauty of this place.
"This is our most sacred place"
I think we all quickly understood why it was so sacred to them.
There were pieces of land floating in the air, mountains curved perfectly to center the sun shining through them.

I turned to look at Yui'Ki's awestruck face. It must have been hundreds of times she had already seen this place, yet she looked like she had seen it for the first time.
It reminded me of our connection with our forest.

"Eclipse is the best time of the day to be here" Yui'Ki said.
We all looked up into the sun that was nearly completely covered. It looked unreal.

Soon it had gotten dark and something underwater was glowing strongly.
"This is it, this is the spirit tree" Tsireya said.

We dove into the water to see a big veiny tree, intertwined with the ground under it.
It had big, glowing leaves that looked like soft feathers which the others began bonding with.

Yui'Ki took out her kuru and bonded with the tree.
I watched her from behind doing it first.
She had a way of doing it so gracefully. I admired her as she closed her eyes, taking in the memories of the spirit tree.

Just as I swam up front to do the same, I saw her start convulsing violently.
Quickly, Tsireya snapped her Kuru away from the tree but her convulsions didn't stop.

I was scared but forced myself to act fast.
Grabbing her by the waist, I swam up the surface as fast as I possibly could.
Her muscles contracted under my hands and I feared she might breathe in water.

I stretched my arms out, trying get her head out of the water first.
To my shock I felt her small body go limp.
"Come on!" I shouted at the others, who were close behind me.
Struggling, I pulled her and myself up a rock.

"Yui'Ki!" Tsireya shouted concerned.
I pulled her onto my lap, tilting her head back. Any negative thoughts I pushed out of my mind.
"Is she breathing?" Rotxo asked.
I pinched her nose and pushed my lips onto hers, blowing air into her lungs.

I felt her body stiffen up again as she gasped for air. Relief washed over me as I watched her breathe again.
"Let's get her to the village!" Tsireya said frantically.

𝐘𝐮𝐢'𝐊𝐢'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕*ੈ✩‧₊˚

I woke up to see Ronal and my mother sitting beside me. Tsireya and Neteyam were there aswell.
They gasped as I tried to keep my heavy eyelids from closing.
Suddenly, everything came back to me. A tall, slender lady, much like me. She had beautiful white hair and white lashes.

She reached out to me, just as I wanted to grab her hand, I was pulled out of the vision.

It felt like I was being crushed internally. My muscles and limbs started moving on their own before I lost consciousness.
I cried out as I recalled the horrific incident, I felt my hand being caressed.

Who was this woman? And why did I look so much like her?
I looked at my mother, salty tears blurring my vision.
"Oh my child..." She said, sobbing with me. I couldn't help but wonder if she was my mother after all.
Why did I look nothing like her? And why did I look so much like this woman?

Then I gazed at Tsireya and Neteyam who were looking at me sympathetically.
I noticed Neteyam was the one who had taken my hand in his. Squeezing his hand, I felt myself and my body calming down.
Ronal looked at me, a sad expression plastered over her face.

I didn't know what to make of this situation. Should I tell mother what I saw?
"Yui'Ki baby, what happened? What did the spirit tree show you?" My mother asked me, snapping me out of my train of thoughts.

Did she know about this woman? And did she suspect I saw her? She had to know.

"Mom who was she?" I asked her, pursing my lips. My mom sighed and shook her head.
"Let me take you to your bed Ki. I will tell you everything you demand to know" My mother said, stroking my cheek.

I realized that the incident must have scared her horribly for her to act like that.
My mother was loving but she preferred not to show emotion.
Especially not when she was vulnerable.

I nodded and so my mother and Ronal guided me to my room, making sure to support my body incase I'd fall.
Neteyam and Tsireya sweetly accompanied me.

Eventually, I laid down as everyone slowly left me and my mother alone in the room.

I looked at my mom, scared for her answers. Did I actually want to know?

"Are you gonna tell me who she is? And why do I resemble her so much?"
I asked her as curiosity took over my doubts.

"Ley'ai, she was your great grandmother, Ki" She answered as I felt my doubts withered away.

"She was the first person to be ever born with this type of hair and skin. People were scared of her, they refused to see her as their kind.
Everyone had looked alike except her. She looked different.
Even her own mother rejected her" She said, looking down. I shook my head in disbelief.

"The to-be Tsahìk at that time, Oruteya, she was petty. Her assigned mate, the to-be Chief, Tiyu'rey fell in love with your great grandmother.
He was the only one who viewed her as more than her haircolor.

Upon finding this out, Oruteya kept spreading the word that Ley'ai was a demonblood, a traitor who was out to possess anyone" I was shocked about the hostility my people were capable of.

"She said Ley'ai had manipulated the soon leader into having her as the future Tsahìk.

Apparently Oruteya tried setting a curse on our family after.
Scared of what else she was capable of, your great grandmother distanced herself from Tiyu'rey.
She sacrificed her own happiness" My mother explained, the pain in her voice made this all even worse.

She looked at me conflicted.
"How do I say this..." My mom paused, looking at me concerned.

"The curse... It's what some of our people believe you are. The rebirth of a demon" I felt my heart ache at these words. Never would I have thought this is how people view me as. A curse.

"It's why I never told you about it. There is no truth to the pettiness of that woman!" My mother spitted.
"You are no curse, you're a gift"

I felt my blood boil.
Always have I felt like our people are one. Connected with each other through eywa.

We were all in the same womb, birthed by the same mother and raised by people alike. Yet they had the audacity to act so distant.

"Yui'Ki? Is everything okay? I don't want you to take this nonsense to heart. Please" My mother pleaded.

I ignored my mothers words. This incident, Neteyam's words, my great grandmother - they all opened my eyes like no other.

I had to prove myself to these ignorant people.
I had to prove I was no curse, I was one of them.

I didn't know how,
but I had to.

Atleast for my great Grandmother's sake.