Seeking Refuge | Neteyam

Chapter Seventeen

"Bro, come on!" Lo'ak begged, tugging on the device with all his might. "Help me out! Hurry! The ship's coming! It's over there!"

Neteyam and I immediately dropped down to help the boy—Tsireya, Aonung, and Rotxo joining us. We all pulled on it, struggling with everything in us.

"Why is this thing so hard to take out?" I groaned, my biceps beginning to hurt.

Neteyam turned to Lo'ak, "Call it in!" When the younger boy just stared at him, he repeated himself and pushed Lo'ak up onto Payakan. "Call dad! Just go! Do it!"

He rushed over and contacted Jake through our radios. The rest of us continued pulling on the device.

"It is not working!" I cried.

"Just keep trying!" Rotxo urged.

Neteyam stood up from beside me and dropped down into the water. I called after the boy, "Neteyam, what are you-"

He tossed a rope at me, "Wrap that around it!"

I nodded and tied a knot around the device. Aonung secured it, "Go, go!"

Neteyam and his Ilu tried swimming away to pull it out while we tugged on it. The urgency of the situation intensified every second. The ship was just getting closer and we were running out of time.

"Get out!" Tsireya shouted.

"Great Mother, please," I whispered to myself.

Suddenly, it popped out, sending us all flying back into the water. As I rose to the surface, I saw Neteyam pulling the device into his hands. He pointed in the direction opposite of the ship. "Go! I'll draw them away!"

"Okay!" Aonung answered, but I shook my head.

"You are not going alone!" I told the boy.

"Ayn'at, there is not time for arguing. Just go with them! It's safer!"

"I don't even have my Ilu-"

"Ride with Lo'ak!"

"Neteyam, I-"

Kiri groaned. "As much as I love you two, we don't have time for this! Ayn, just go with him! Hurry!"

Neteyam groaned. "You are so stubborn! Come on!"

I rushed over and mounted his Ilu, wrapping my arms around his waist. Everyone else swam off. Without a word, he plunged into the water and we swam away. A million thoughts ran through my mind as we dodged rockets and bombs. The beeping just kept filling my ears and it made my anxiety worse.

One rocket landed right next to us, sending me to the side. But I tightened my arms around Neteyam. We swam farther and farther away. Then, the rockets stopped.

Neteyam dropped the tracker before swimming to a rock. When we got to the surface, he jumped onto the rock and stuffed his hands into his hair. He paced around as I got onto the rock as well.

"Neteyam-"

"Why wouldn't you listen?" he shouted, causing me to stumble back.

"What?" I scoffed. My eyes squinted at him as my head tilted.

"Why did you have to follow me? Ayn'at, I was trying to keep you safe but you kept persisting!"

"Neteyam, we were all equally in danger in that situation! They were after all of us!"

"But they knew the others were Na'vi. They thought I was Payakan! They used the bombs on us, no? Not them? They were not trying to kill them. They were trying to kill us!"