𝐖𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 || 𝗔𝗼'𝗻𝘂𝗻𝗴

2

Jake raises his hands, showing a sign of peace to the reef people. "Be nice." He whispers.

He slowly lowers his hands when he makes sure no one sees him as a threat.

Two boys emerge from the crowd but say nothing. One of the boys examines all of us and the other boy follows him.

Neteyam and Lo'ak greet the young boys but they both ignore them. Both of the boys go behind Neteyam and Lo'ak.

One of them points at Neteyams tail, "Is that supposed to be a tail?" They both laugh then a few other reef people laugh as well.

I look over at Lo'ak and notice he's staring at something, or someone. A girl comes out the water and Lo'ak can't take his eyes off her.

I budge Kiris shoulder and point at Lo'ak then the girl. We both start to quietly laugh but quickly stop when Lo'ak turns his head towards us.

The girl walks towards the two Metkayina boys. "How are they supposed to swim?" One of the boys says. The girl hits his hand, "Do not." She says sternly.

She looks at one boy, then the other, "Rotxo, Ao'nung." The boy named Ao'nung rolls his eyes and the other boy looks down.

Still looking at the boys, I see Neteyam and Lo'ak look behind me. I turn my head and there are three massive ocean creatures coming towards us quickly.

I start to panic until I see that there are reef people riding them. I look over at Neytiri and try to catch her attention.

"What are those?" I ask her, she looks at me then at the ocean creatures.

"Those are Skimwings, you have to be very skilled to ride one of them." She watches as they get closer.

When they eventually stop nearby, three men get off the Skimwings. "That is Tonowari, the chief of the Metkayina clan." Jake says quietly.

He walk towards us then stands in front of us. We all greet him and he nods at us with a slight smile.

"I see you Tonowari." Jake says. Soon after Tonowari says the same thing.

I look at Jake and see his face turn into a nervous one. A woman walks towards us and goes next to Tonowari.

"I see you Ronal." Jake greets her, but she doesn't greet him back. Instead, she looks quite annoyed.

Ronal looks up at Tonowari with a face of madness. Tonowari quickly looks away then turns to Jake.

"Why do you come to us Jake Sully?" Tonowari says Jakes full name as if it's all one name.

"We seek Uturu." Jake moves his arm towards us, presenting us to Ronal and Tonowari.

"Uturu?" Ronal says, then looks at Tonowari with an unhappy face.

"A sanctuary for my family." Jake leans over slightly and has a pleading look on his face.

"We are reef people, your forest skills will mean nothing here." While Tonowari speaks Ronal started examining us just like how the two boys did.

"We will learn your ways." After Jake says that he turns to Neytiri, "Alright."

"Yes." Neytiri answers. Jake turns back to Tonowari. Neytiri watches Ronal, who is still examine us.

"There arms are thin." Ronal holds up Tuks arm. Neytiri looks annoyed but keeps calm.

She grabs Kiris tail, "Their tails are weak."

"Ow!" Kiri grabs her tail and pulls away from Ronal.

"You will be slow in the water." She looks at us all. She then looks down at mine and Kiris hands.

She grabs both our hands and holds them up, "They are not even true Na'vi!" Everyone starts to talk quietly.

Neytiri looks around with a worried look on her face. I pull my hand away from Ronals grasp and stare at her.

Kiri pulls her hand away and stares up at her, "Yes we are!" Ronal ignores Kiri and walks towards Lo'ak.

She holds up his hand, "They have demon blood!" She shouts. Everyone gasps.

"Look, look!" Jake holds his hand up in front of Ronal. She lets go of Lo'aks hand and faces Jake.

"Look I was born to the sky people and now Na'vi. Right you can adapt, we will adapt! Okay?" He says desperately. He turns to Tonowari seeking an answer.

Neytiri walks next to Jake and looks back and forth between Ronal and Tonowari. "My husband was Toruk Makto. He led the clans to victory against the sky people." Jakes face slightly cringes when Neytiri mentions he was Toruk Makto.

I quietly laugh to myself. Ronal walks forward and faces Jake and Neytiri, "This you call victory? It seems Eywa has turned her back on you."

Neytiris ears slightly lower and her mouth slowly opens. Jake goes infront of Neytiri and looks down at Ronal.

"I apologise for my mate, she come a long way." While Jake speaks Neytiri tells him not to apologise on her behalf.

I look over at Neteyam who is keeping a straight face and is looking at Ronal and Tonowari. Lo'ak is staring at the reef boys and they're mocking his small tail.

Tuk leaves Neytiris side and comes towards me and Kiri. "How long is this gonna take." She wines.

I kneel down to Tuks height, "As long as it has to. We have to earn their trust and respect." She mouths "Oh" then moves to my side.

"Toruk Makto is a great war leader! But we.. are not at war." Tonowari shouts. Jakes face grows more worried.

"I just wanna keep my family safe." He picks up Tuk and turns to Tonowari.

Tonowari looks at Ronal with a pleading face. She slowly nods her head and Tonowari slightly smiles.

"Toruk Makto and his family will stay with us." Tonowari announces. Some of the reef people nod and others look disappointed.

"Treat them as our brothers and sisters." Jake puts down Tuk while still listening at what Tonowari is saying.

The boy named Ao'nung walks by his fathers side and so does the girl. "But they do not know the sea. So they will be like babies taking their first breath."

Neytiri has a look of embarrassment grow on her face but quickly shakes it off. "Teach them our ways so that they will not suffer the shame of being useless."

Jake sighs with relief and turns to us. "What do we say?"

"Thank you." Tuk says, Jake repeats Tuks words. Kiri quietly whispers thank you while rolling her eyes.

"Thank you." I look around once again and almost everyone is staring at us.

"My son Ao'nung and our daughter Tsireya will show your children what to do." He points at Ao'nung then Tsireya.

I look over at Lo'ak knowing he's going to be staring at the girl named Tsireya, and he is. I look up and see Ao'nung staring at me.

I look away from him, rolling my eyes. He walks in front of Tonowari, "Father, why?" Tonowari quickly cuts him off.

"It has been decided." Tonowari says sternly. Ao'nung groans and walks away.

"Come, I will show you our village." Tsireya has a smile on her face, which makes me feel more welcome.