Mighty Jewel | LO'AK + NETEYAM

chapter nine

You are reef people, you were raised in this clan. Raised. Not born. Before entering the forest, Kyalayi turned around to see if her father was behind. He had prohibited her from going into the woods, but right now, she needed a safe, comfortable place. Marrek had decided to not follow his daughter, he would let her have a moment to calm down. He would let himself calm down too. Kyalayi discreetly snuck into the forest. She bent under some leafs and branches and walked farther, deeper. She could still feel her father's tight grip on her shoulders. The girl passed by what used to be the trap that almost got Lo'ak killed. Her father had removed the spears and tried to fill the hole with sand, making it obvious and not deadly. She crouched to examine closer the premises. Maybe, her father had missed something. A clue on who might had done this.

"What's this?" Neteyam asked as he finally reached the girl, ready for answers. Kyalayi quickly straightened herself to face the Sully boy.

"My father warned Jake about the forest. You shouldn't be here." Kya replied, her heart beating fast due to Neteyam's surprise appearance.

"Neither should you." He smirked as he stepped besides the girl. "Is this where you told my brother you were a hybrid?"

Kyalayi's eyes widened. Hybrid. The word that seemed to be in everybody's mouths since a few days. She rapidly certified that Lo'ak was no good with secrets. Or promises. She couldn't hide the fact that she felt a tad betrayed. But the girl took this sudden question as an opportunity. An opportunity for answers that her father couldn't—wouldn't—give. The exact same reasons of why Neteyam had chased after Kya into the forest. Their need for answers.

"What's a hybrid?" She quietly asked.

Neteyam's smirk quickly faded. He posed his gaze onto the white haired girl with jewel eyes, inspecting her every traits. This wasn't the answer he wanted. Neteyam recognized fear on the young girl's face but also hope. Like she had waited for someone to tell her the truth. Someone to finally be honest with her.

"Hybrid is," Neteyam sighed, searching for the right words. Kyalayi furrowed her eyebrows. She thought her heart would jump out of her rib cage at any moment. "Me." He simply said. "It's Lo'ak. It's Kiri. And it's Tuk. Mother and us, we were born in the forest. In the Omatikaya clan. But father, he was born in the stars." The boy pointed his arm up toward the sky as Kya's gaze followed it. She eventually realized what Neteyam meant by the stars. "Before he became Na'vi. He lived on another planet with other humans."

"Sky People." She said, her tone laced with statement rather than questioning. She returned her gaze on the boy.

"Yes. But father say every person is born twice. He was born a second time when he came to Pandora and stayed with Mother to build our family."

Neteyam had just shattered every beliefs Kyalayi ever had. Unlike her father said, not every Sky People were bad. There were some—like Jake Sully—who were good. Who could be trusted. The girl was soaking all of Neteyam's words in, causing her breathing to accelerate and her knees to slightly shake. Her body finally gave in as she let herself fell onto the ground. The boy immediately kneeled next to Kya, worried and wishing he could hear her thoughts. She was the more complex person to read, he never truly saw what she was thinking.

"I don't know if I'm a hybrid." She whispered, still looking forward but Kya could feel the comforting gaze of the Sully's eldest. "I don't have a mother."

"Everyone has a mother."

"Not me." She murmured, her voice getting weaker and quieter each time she talked. "Not once in fifteen years has father talked about her. So how can I be sure?"

Neteyam ached for the girl kneeled at his side. He could never relate to Kyalayi's situation but in this instant, all he wanted to do was to ease the pain she was feeling. Even if it meant staying in the prohibited forest that would cause him another lecture from his father. Or finding the answers she desperately needed. Neteyam stared at Kya, the sun rays reflecting on her white braided hair. She looked like Eywa, illuminating his world. He took her hand wrapped with leather bands in his.

"Hybrids usually have five fingers."

"But you have four." She softly smiled without showing teeth. Neteyam spotted the dimples on her cheek, it made him grin.

"I said usually. My mother and I are the only ones with four fingers in our family." He paused, caressing Kyalayi's fingers. "I see, you have four. We won't know for sure but you, Kya, might not be a hybrid after all. And even if you are, I promise you that it is not so bad."

Kyalayi dropped her gaze from Neteyam's. She couldn't lie while looking into his golden eyes.
"Four fingers." She repeated, lifting her hand up in the air and out of Neteyam's touch which she find herself craving for as soon as he let go. Kyalayi might not had all of her answers for the moment, but it was only a matter of time. The girl dropped her eyes to glance at Neteyam's fingers, but instead spotted the oyster he held in one of his hand. She grabbed the knife out of her bag and returned to the boy.

"Hold on." Neteyam exclaimed, his arms raised in the air as if he forfeited. "I was only being honest."

The girl chuckled as she seized the oyster out of his grip causing Neteyam's arms dropped along his body. He watched carefully the girl, wondering what she would do. Kyalayi wiggled the knife in the oyster's opening before pushing the blade up and tearing it. She proudly smiled as she found the white, lilac glowing pearl resting in it.

"Woah." Neteyam commented, shifting his gaze between the pearl and Kya, looking at them both with awe which made Kyalayi's smile grew wider.

The girl looked around her, searching the forest for a specific kind of vine. On the tree behind, rested the vine she looked for. She stood up, causing Neteyam to do the same, and she went to tear a small strip of it. Kyalayi extracted tree wax from under the root and sleeked the vine with it. Neteyam didn't understood what she was doing but he loved watching her crafting with nature. Kya tied the pearl with the sleeked vine turning it into a pendant on a necklace.

"For you." Kyalayi said as she approached the Sully boy. His brows furrowed, staring at the girl who newly considered as a friend. "Thank you for only being honest." She repeated Neteyam's words to him which made him grin.

"Thank you, Kya." Neteyam took the necklace and passed it over his head, the white pearl contrasting with the dark blue of his skin. He observed his gift for a moment. Kyalayi's story turned out to be way more complexed than he thought. Maybe it was his eldest son instinct that resurfaced, but Neteyam wanted to help Kya in her journey of finding her mother. Protecting her with all he could. Shielding her from the worst even if that meant putting himself in danger. Just like he did when he followed her into that forest. What he didn't know was that Kyalayi would never risk his safety to protect her own. She was already too attached to the boy.

"Please. Remind me to never confess anything to Lo'ak." The duo crackling up to Kyalayi's comment.