Mighty Jewel | LO'AK + NETEYAM

chapter fourteen

"Get down!" Jake shouted as he grabbed Kyalayi and Lo'ak and hid them from the explosion in his arms. When Kyalayi opened back her eyes, her vision was blurry and her ears were ringing but she still felt Jake's grip around her shoulders. She blinked a few times, trying to refocus her mind that was as blurry as her vision. She straightened her body and stared at the direction where the ship had crashed. Now, it was on the beach and wreathed by the hot and orange flames. Jake stepped in front as Neteyam joined Lo'ak and the girl. The three of them watched him carefully wander toward it. The smoke soon coming out and up in the sky, making the beach cloudy and dark. The sound had woken up almost all of the village, some checked the incident from their hut and others came onto the beach. "Stay here." Jake instructed as he ran towards his family's hut.

"What's happened, MyJake?" Neytiri asked, worried but she didn't want to leave her daughters behind. Marrek was still treating her.

"Stay here. One of their spaceship crashed on the beach." The man said lifting up a military like sheet and grabbing one of his guns. "The kids are safe." He reassured his mate before leaving for the beach. But Neytiri, stubborn as she was, went out by the hut's door and checked the incident from afar.

"Dad-" Lo'ak started, wanting to offer his help. And so did Neteyam. But Kyalayi, she couldn't move. She was barely keeping her legs from giving out and dropping her body on the sand.

"Stay behind." Jake gestured to both of his sons to stop moving forward. He then guarded his body with his gun, slowly pacing towards the burning spaceship. His every muscles tensing up to the potential of facing one of his enemy. Of facing Quaritch. He wished for it to be him in the flames so he could shamelessly pulled the trigger. After everything, a bullet was the only thing he deserved. Neteyam and Lo'ak carefully watched their father and so did every villagers behind them. Kyalayi watched the brothers struggling to stay put, their feet kicking sand as they gradually moved closer. They deeply wanted to help their father but didn't want to dare disobey his orders. "Someone is inside." Jake warned as he approached closer to the ships' entrance. A figure crawled painfully through the flames and made its way onto the sand. Jake lowered his gun as he figured what was in front of him wasn't a threat. Kyalayi couldn't see who it was from where she stood. But she could see Jake crouched to the ground, clutching his gun behind his back as he helped the figure. When the Sully man turned around, Kyalayi could finally see the masked human covered in blood and cinders. Her eyes widened, it was her first time seeing one and she always thought they were ugly like monsters in a fairytale but to her surprise, this one wasn't. Neteyam glanced behind him, at the girl to make sure she was still safe. She looked right back at him, stunned.

"Evelyn." Marrek gasped as he passed by his daughter and the Sully brothers, almost running to reunite with his lost soulmate.

Evelyn? Kyalayi's gaze followed her father, her eyebrows pinched together as she tried to understood who could be the human. But then, she finally examined the woman's face through her mask. Almost white hair and blue eyes she could barely see as she tried to keep awakened. Kyalayi's whole body froze, her muscles rigid like rocks in the forest. He said she was dead, she thought. She watched her father took the human in his arms, intensely caressing her hair. Kyalayi watched Marrek reunite with the woman he had always loved. Her mother. The girl's heart cracked a little as she felt betrayed by her father. What terrified her the most was how easy it was for him to filled his answers of lies and the girl wondered how many times he had done it. Kyalayi dropped her head while lifting her hands up as she gawked at her fingers. If her mother was a human that meant she had been a hybrid, all along. A detail her father had purposely hid from her. It also meant she hadn't been born with her scars, someone or something had did her harm, made her look like a freak for the rest of her life and it was all her parents' fault. Marrek and Jake moved from the beach to the girl's hut with the injured woman.

"Mama. Who is it?" Tuk distantly asked as she had joined her mother by their hut's door.

"I think that's Kya's mother." Neytiri calmly responded to her youngest as she ached for Marrek and Kyalayi. The woman had grown found of the teenage girl. After everything Kyalayi had done to save her kids, it was only natural for Neytiri to feel motherly about her.

The girl didn't flinched, didn't even reacted when they passed by with her supposedly deceased mother. The only thing she felt or heard was her heart rapidly pumping inside of her. She felt breathless because she couldn't focus on doing it, on inhaling the salty air of the ocean into her lungs. It was like her body had forgotten how to fonction. The girl wouldn't dare to move, too scared that her legs would give up under her. Once again, she had so many unanswered questions spinning all over her mind. Questions she thought that had been finally answered but no, Kyalayi was back in its vicious circle. Neteyam glanced at his brother who already stared at the girl, a worried look could clearly be red on his face. Lo'ak sensed his brother's questioning gaze on him so he turned his face around. Lo'ak shrugged, he didn't knew how to deal with Kyalayi. She wasn't expressive, her face looked numb like she wasn't present on the beach with them. She was completely closed off to her surroundings. Lo'ak walked closer, giving her only a comforting squeeze on the shoulder before making his way back to his father. Wanting to help and redeemed himself for what had happened to Kiri. Even at his touch, Kyalayi didn't react like she usually did. Her eyes still fixated on the crashed and burning spaceship. Neteyam cocked his head, searching for a way to connect with the girl. He could barely see her chest rising or falling, like she wasn't breathing at all. She didn't budged to his proximity. The boy let out a faint sigh, wishing there was something more he could do to ease her pain because he knew how hurt she was. A sense of guilt and selfishness ran through him as he was relieved that the ship wasn't Quaritch's and that his family was still safe when Kyalayi's world had just crumbled. Neteyam put his warm hand on her cheek, just like he had watched her did to his brother, a few moments earlier. Kyalayi's skin was as cold as her face expression but Neteyam's touch made her move away. Away from his touch and toward the burning ship. His hand slipping back to his side as he glanced at the girl who had just passed by him. Kyalayi kneeled on the sand. The warm sand that seemed to always bring her comfort. But now, it was the sand that her mother had previously fall into. The sand stained with her vibrant red blood. Neteyam turned back to see a few remaining villagers watching the scene as if it was an entertainment.

"Leave. There's nothing to see." Neteyam firmly shouted which surprised the inhabitants but eventually made them return to their hut. Kyalayi's pain wasn't entertainment, she was allowed to her privacy and especially from the village that treated her so poorly. The boy glanced one more time at the girl, now laying in the sand on her side before joining his father and brother.

Kyalayi slowly pulled her knees up, grabbing them with her arms and when she finally sensed like she was alone, she cried. All alone, she let out the tears she had been holding back. In her fifteen years, her father had been her best friend, her confident and the person she trusted the most. She looked up to him, aspired to be a healer as good as he was but she hadn't realized that her father was something else. He was a liar.