The Tides have changed | Neteyam Fanfiction

part 21

They swam to the location that they were told, with Ilu. And the sight they were exposed to, was horrible.

A dead Tulkun, with orange floating things coming out from the creatures sides, and a smaller dead calf right next to her.

Ronal swam off her Ilu and went to the creature, after all it was her spirit sister. She placed a shaking hand on the Tulkun, hoping to still feel warmth from her, but the body was cold.

The rest of the Tulkun surrounded the dead mother and her calf. Ronal had tears in her eyes. She swam in the water and lifted herself up to meet the dead eye of the Tulkun. She had begun to cry and wail.

Raeya, who was sitting on her Ilu with Neteyam began to cry at the sight. The death of one's spirit sister is nothing but devastating. Neteyam, who was sitting behind her, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He understood why she was crying, what she was feeling.

"Her name," Tonowari turned to Jake and Neytiri. "Is Roa." They were floating behind Ronal.

"She was my spirit sister," Ronal forced out, hands planted on the skin of the Tulkun. "She was the composer of songs. We would sing together," she reminisced. "She waited many breeding cycles to have this calf, the clan was so happy for her."

Ronal turned her head back. "What is this, Tonowari?" Her voice raised. "What is this?!"

Raeya and Tsireya silently cried, the tides had changed because the sky people had killed a Tulkun and had left it there to rot. This was a sign of war. And Eywa had warned them about it.

Jake and Neytiri swam to the other side of the dead animal. The two could understand why this was beyond sad, why all the Metkayina were crying over this. And they felt responsible for it.

Jake looked at the creature and noticed something weird.

On the other side of it, an orange tracker blinked.

This is not good, he thought.

Going closer, they saw the logo that was on it and recognized it as the RDA. Jake's face scrunched up and then he sighed. He realized what was happening.

They were trying to draw him out to find them. Jake looked at Neytiri and saw her come to the same conclusion.

Tonowari comforts his partner, and seperates her from Roa. She cried out in pain and Tonowari took her in his arms, and held her.

------
Back at the village Tonowari gathered everybody up in a group.

Ronal started speaking out to the group.

"My spirit sister, and her baby have been murdered by the sky people!" Ronal called out. Tonowari hissed.

"This war has come to us!" He looked at everybody in the crowd. "We knew about this hunting of the Tulkun people, far above the horizon, far away. Now, it is here!" He yelled out.

The people of the clan started to hiss and hold out their tongues, as a sign of aggression.

Jake tried to calm them down. "You gotta
understand that the sky people don't care," he started," they don't care about the great balance."

Neytiri looked around the aggressive Metkayina. But they had all agreed that they wanted war.

Neteyam tried to get people to quiet down and listen to his fathers words.

"Listen. Listen to him!" He said.

"The sky people aren't gonna stop. This is only the beginning. You gotta tell your Tulkun to leave. You gotta tell them to go far away."

"Leave?" Ronal questioned. "You live among us, and you learn nothing!" She accused.

A random person behind Ronal shouted, "We will stay and fight for our brothers and sisters." He let out a war cry and stuck his tongue out. The rest of the clan joined him by hissing and sticking out their tongues.

"No- If you attack" Jake held out his arms in warning. "If you fight-" He looked at Tonowari. "They will destroy you!" He pleaded. "They will destroy everything that you love!" He said to Ronal, who instinctively held a hand over her stomach.

Jake kept yelling out different things, and Neteyam tried to calm everybody down.

"Stay calm! Stay calm!" He assured the people around him. He looked over to Raeya, who's eyes were big with fear. Neteyam felt a protective force coming over him, he had to protect her, no matter what.

"Listen to my father." Neteyam stated.

But they wouldn't.

Jake had had enough. He took the orange blinker and stepped out from the crowd. He held it up high, so everyone could see it.

"This," he suggested to the blinker, "this is what caused this," He showed it around to everyone.

"You have to tell the Tulkun to leave. Tell them, that if they are hit by one of these," he sighed,"they are marked for death,"

Raeya thought back to her spirit sister, she didn't want her to die. She looked at Neteyam, as if looking for answers in him. She thought that things would be good for longer, but it seemed Eywa had other plans.

"If you find one of these, call for me. I'll silence them."

Some of the Metkayina seemed disappointed, maybe they really wanted war. The truth is, the Metkayina are rather peaceful people, they haven't been in war for years. And a lot of them had forgotten what war can cause.

-----

Neteyam ran around the Marui area to find Raeya, but she was nowhere to be found. He saw her father in the water with other Metkayina warriors. He guessed that now that there was a possibility for war, the had ordered more people to patrol the reef.

Lau'ri noticed Neteyam looking at him and yelled from the water," she went out to find her spirit sister with her friends, she'll be back before dawn."

Although Neteyam knew that Raeya could protect herself, he still needed to know if she got back safe. So he decided to stay out and wait for her.