Let me heal you - Neteyam x reader

Eight

"One of the tulkun have been murdered by the sky people." Ronal yelled, and our clan gasped and muttered in response.

I stood amongst them, Neteyam's hand in mine. I did not join the ruckus. The pain of losing my sister was still fresh in my chest. The only thoughts that echoed in my mind were those of revenge.

"This war has come to us," Tonowari declared. "We knew about the hunting of the tulkun, but it was far on the horizon. Now, it is here."

The crowd whooped and crowed in response.

"You don't understand how the sky people think," Jake Sully insisted, speaking over the shouts. "They don't care about the tulkun way. They don't care about the great balance!"

"Listen to him!" Neteyam snapped from beside me, to no avail.

"The sky people will not stop. This is only beginning. You have to tell the tulkun to leave. To go far away from here."

This was met with gasps of confusion and anger. Despite the protests of my people, I could not help but agree. No one else will have to feel the pain of loosing their spirit sibling.

"Leave!" Ronal shouted. "You live among us, and you learn nothing."

"We will fight for our brothers and sisters." Anoung called, and was rewarded with a cheer.

Jake Sully attempted to silence them. "No, no, no! If you fight, and if you attack, then they will destroy you. All of you. And everything that you love."

Ronal clutched her swollen stomach. The Metkayina only roared with anger. Jake snatched the harpoon Neteyam was carrying. He held in in the air, and somehow, the crowd went silent.

"You tell the tulkun that is they are hit with one of these, then they are marked for death. And to call for me." He told them, his words finally gaining a reaction. "Saving their lives. That's all the matters. Saving your family."

It was silent for a long moment. Finally, Tonowari raised his voice. "Tell them. Tell the tulkun."

The crowd dispersed almost immediately. I did not follow, because I no longer had a spirit sister to warn. The pain lashed at my chest again, as though I was realising Naola was dead all over again. I think of the first time we met, when she was a calf, and I was very small. We spent hours splashing and leaping and diving. Then, the second time, when we had both grown a little, and we bonded. It was so special. The feeling of the words 'spirit sister' rolling off my tongue was sweeter than nectar. Tears rolled down my face again, salty and hot.

A pair of arms surrounded me. It was Neytiri. She spoke to me softly and did not seem to mind when I cried into her shoulder. Her motherly embrace was welcome, but unfamiliar. Ronal, despite raising me, had never quite been a mother to me. So now, as I sobbed uncontrollably, the haze of grief suspended over my mind began to clear, and for the first time I felt wanted. I knew I would never truly recover from Naola's death, but as much as it hurt, life was still liveable.

I withdrew from Neytiri's embrace, wiping the tears from my face.

"Do not forget that we are here for you, my 'eveng (child)." Neytiri said, combing my hair with her fingers. "You are not alone."

"Thank you..." I whispered back. My voice has hoarse and weak.

"Neteyam went that way, he followed his brother, I think. If you are quick you can still catch him."

I thanked her again, unsure of what else to say. Neytiri hugged me again, before letting me follow the Sully girls and my cousins in the direction Neteyam had gone.

"Lo'ak!" Tsireya called and he dove into the water and onto his Ilu.

"Come on, he is going to Bayakan." Neteyam urged, calling an Ilu, and pausing for a moment to let me mount behind him, before racing off after his brother.

We rushed out of the bay, barely keeping Lo'ak in our sight. Neteyam's hand kept a firm grip on my thigh, and my arms circled his waist tightly. We emerged to see Lo'ak on top of a tulkun, presumably Bayakan, and tugging at the flashing harpoon in his side. In the distance, I could see a flying metal ship approaching. They are the people that killed my sister. They must be. And I will make them pay. In the meantime, we must save Bayakan.

Neteyam urged Lo'ak to call their father as we tugged on the harpoon. I dove back into the water, grabbing a length of rope from my Ilu and looping it around the harpoon. I commanded the Ilu to pull, and the harpoon began to shift. With one last tug, a combination of all our efforts the tracker came clean out of Bayakan's side.

"Go that way, I will draw them off." Neteyam shouted. I tried to mount the Ilu behind him, but he pushed me away. "Go with Tsireya. I will come find you."

With my arm around Tsireya's waist, we went tearing through the water. Eventually we slowed to a stop, hiding in amongst the seaweed. It was silent for a moment, until a whirring sound echoed through the ocean. Metal divers dropped into the water not far from us and swam in our direction. We took off again, away from the machines. Our efforts were fruitless, as we were soon surrounded. Tsireya guided the Ilu deeper still, where the weeds were thick.

The combined speed and continuous assault from the leaves caused me grip of Tsireya to slip, and I was thrown backward into the water. Tsireya disappeared in the leaves, still being pursued by a diver, and I searched frantically for her. Instead, I spotted Tuk, who had suffered a similar fate, and was beginning to struggle.

Grabbing her under the arms, I guided her to a bell-shaped plant filled with a pocket of air. We gasped for breath. The flesh of the plant glowed with the red light from the metal divers.

"Are you alright?" I huffed.

A head popped up beside us, and Tuk did not answer. It was Lo'ak, and rising behind him was Tsireya.

"It is coming," She cried.

"We gotta go," Lo'ak urged sucking in a deep breath.

We dove back down out of the plant, only to come face to face with a diver. Swimming frantically in my other direction, I pulled Tuk onto my back to make sure she did not fall behind. Tsireya changed direction again quickly, and I spotted another diver. The panic was beginning to set in as we kicked frantically though the water.

A pop sounded behind, and a net draped over us. Tuk squeaked in surprise and flailed violently. Lo'ak who had managed to avoid capture, pulled on the net in an attempt to set us free. We were scooped into the air by an Ikran, but Lo'ak managed to hold on, slashing the net with his knife in an attempt to set us free.

"Go, Lo'ak. Swim!" I shouted, urging him to flee.

"No. I am not leaving you." He hacked furiously and determinedly at the rope, but the no avail.

We were dropped onto the deck of the metal ship, and instantly surrounded by Avatar and sky people. The net weighed me down, and I struggled to escape as Tuk was grabbed violently. I broke free, scooping up the knife she had dropped, and slicing at the hands of the Avatar reaching for me. I quickly gained the upper hand, pinning him with my knife against his neck.

I hoped that he could not feel the shake in my hands. I was a healer, not a soldier. I had never hurt anyone before. A tall, short haired Avatar dismounted an Ikran. His confident swagger and the way the sky people shyed away under his gaze told me he was the leader.

"You," I shouted, gaining his attention. "You killed my spirit sister."

"The tulkun? Yeah, yeah that was me." He grinned, showing no remorse.

The anger burned in my chest. Screw the tulkun way. I would avenge my sister. With a scream, I leapt off the back off the Avatar I had overpowered, swinging the knife. Barely bothered, the leader dodged and threw me to the floor. Before I could get up again, his gun slammed into my head, and I collapsed again. I fought furiously against the black clawing at the corners of my eyes. The battle was lost, and the fury melted into unconsciousness.