After the trees, the seas | Neteyam

Chapter 13

The next day, tension had released a little. I got out of the hut to a grey sky and rain. I actually liked rainy day, it was like a therapy for me. The sound of water drops were giving me a sort of comfort. I got out of the hut when I heard Lo'ak growling at the weather. "Are you afraid of rain Lo'ak?" I teased him, giving him a mocking smile. "Funny" he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Neteyam walked by and laughed. Kiri then joined us with Tuk. "Looks like it's perfect time for a swim" she said smiling. "Definitely" I replied. I spent morning with Kiri, Tuk and Tsireya.

"By the way Hayla, I'm happy for you and Neteyam, I haven't had the chance to tell you yet" she said smiling. "Thank you Kiri" I replied blushing a little. "Wait, you and Neteyam are together?" Tsireya asked, curious as her lips curved into a smile. I laughed and nodded. "That's amazing! I had noticed the beautiful bond you two have, I'm glad you finally decided to get together" she said smiling brightly. "Why are y'all talking about it like it was that obvious?" I asked looking at both of my friends. "Because it was obvious Hayla" Kiri said before we all bursted out laughing.

As we were talking, Neteyam appeared with a worried look on his face. I frowned at his expression. "They found a dead Tulkun, the Tsahik's Tulkun and her calf" Neteyam said. My eyes widened. Tsireya gasped and rushed to the village. We all got out of the water. "What happened?" I asked Neteyam. "He had a tracker.." he replied in a low voice. I stopped breathing as panic submerged my body. No way, that couldn't be possible. They found us, it was them again. Stupid sky people. They were here to destroy everything we had, this was only the beginning.

Neteyam rested a hand on my cheek, bringing me back to reality. "We'll be fine" he said softly. "But we should go" he added also addressing to Kiri and Tuk. He grabbed my hand and we walked to the center of the village, where the whole clan was gathered. Everyone was there. We joined Jake and Neytiri. "My spirit sister and her baby were murdered by the sky people!" Ronal shouted to the crowed as everyone reacted. "This war has come to us, we knew about the Tulkun hunting, but it was over the horizon! Now it's here!" Tonowari said before sticking his tongue out and letting out war cries. The clan followed him and did the same. It was chaotic, everyone was screaming, ready to fight. The only problem was, they didn't really know who were their opponent. Who were the sky people and what they were capable of doing. My ears lowered as anxiety started to gain me once again. Neteyam hadn't let go of my hand and gave it a little squeeze to reassure me. I rested my head on his shoulder, afraid of what was going to happen next.

"You gotta understand how the sky people think! They don't care about the great balance!" Jake tried to warned them. "We don't answer to the sky people!" a metkayina man replied, letting out an other war cry which led to the clan agitating more. I sighed loudly. Neteyam even tried to intervene. "Listen! Listen to him!" he shouted as he took a step forward, letting go of my hand. "The sky people are not gonna stop, this is only the beginning! You gotta tell the Tulkun to leave! You gotta to tell them to go far away!" Jake spoke again, trying to convince everyone to listen to him. "Leave? You live among us and you learn nothing?" Ronal shouted to Jake in disbelief. "You don't understand.." I tried to say but the clan just agreed to Ronal and started to scream louder and louder.

"No, no, no.." Jake let out as he looked at the clan's agitation. "If you attack, if you fight, then they'll destroy everything that you love.." he added. His words broke me, he knew what he was talking about, he had experienced it. Sky people forced us to leave our home, they destroyed our forests, they killed my parents. My eyes filled with tears. My heart was filled with anger, sadness and fear. "Hear my words" Jake spoke again, not giving up. "Stay calm! Listen to my father! He speaks the truth!" Neteyam spoke again as Jake took the tracker from his hand. He then climbed on the net and held the tracker up in the air so that everyone could see it. "You tell the Tulkun that if they're hit by one of these, they're marked for death!" Jake said addressing to the whole clan. He had finally managed to earn silence from the clan. They all seemed shocked by the object obviously coming from the sky people. "and call for me! I'll silence it, saving their lives, that's all that matters, right? Saving your family". Ronal and Tonowari exchanged an approval look before they finally spoke. "Tell the Tulkun" said Tonowari, firmly to the metkayinas. "Go!" Ronal ordered.

The clan listened and dispersed. I then noticed Lo'ak leaving quickly. I frowned and looked at Neteyam. He had noticed too and was already going after him. I followed his steps from close. Lo'ak was tacking up his Ilu, he was about to leave. "Lo'ak!" I called him. He turned around to face us. "There's no way you're running away baby brother" Neteyam said as we caught up to Lo'ak. "I have to warn Payakan about the pingers!" he replied. "No, you have to keep you skxanwg ass here" Neteyam said. "He's outcast, there's nobody to warn him but me!" Lo'ak insisted. I sighed. "Hayla, I thought you believed me, I thought you were on my side" he said to me with pleading eyes. My ears dropped at his remark. "I do Lo'ak, of course I do, but it's dangerous out there, sky people could be anywhere, I don't want you hurt.." I tried to explain.

"You don't understand, none of you!" he said harshly. "Bro..Why do you have to make things so hard?" Neteyam asked his brother as he put his hand on his brother's head. Lo'ak rapidly shook away Neteyam's hand. "No! You mean why can't I be the perfect son like you?" he shouted. Neteyam nodded angrily, pursed his lips and backed off from him. "Lo'ak.." I tried to calm the situation. "The perfect little soldier! Well I'm not you! Okay?" he added raising his voice. "He's my brother, I'm going!" Lo'ak said pointing towards the ocean and turning around. I tried to speak but Neteyam approached Lo'ak angrily, caught his arm and flipped him around. "Oh he's your brother?" he asked harshly. "Neteyam.." I tried to calm him resting my hand on his chest. "No, I'm your brother!" he added. Hearing that made me sad knowing Neteyam always tried his best to be a good brother, to take care of his siblings and protecting them. 

"Lo'ak!" Tsireya yelled coming from the sea, on her Ilu, she was with Rotxo and Aonung. They all jumped on the net. Lo'ak took the opportunity to get out of his brother's grip and dived in the ocean. "Lo'ak please wait!" I screamed to him but he was already swimming away. I sighed loudly. "Come on! He's going to Payakan!" Neteyam shouted to the others. He started to tack up his Ilu and jumped on it. He gave me his hand, I didn't hesitate and took it. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he held my thigh to make sure I wouldn't fall off "Hold on tight" he ordered as I nodded. We dived, followed close by Tsireya, Aonung and Rotxo.

The ocean was agitated with the rain, but we kept moving on, jumping waves. "Wait up!" I heard Kiri's voice. I turned around to see she was with Tuk. "Lo'ak's gone to see Payakan!" Neteyam quickly answered. "Wait for us!" she said as she followed. When we finally reached Lo'ak, he was already on Payakan, trying to pull something off him. My heart stopped when I saw the red tracker.