human heart | neteyam

thirty-seven

s'more's pov

my heart was heavy. i could hardly breathe. their blood was on my hands - i had made the stupid choice of going after my brother when i knew he would be fine. noxta gasped for air as he hand held tightly around my forearm.

neteyam was lucky. noxta had jumped in front of him just in the nick of time causing the bullet to only graze his chest. while noxta on the other hand - the bullet had went all the way through.

lo'ak was helping neteyam wash the blood off of his chest while tsireya and i clung closely to noxta. her gasps for air sent daggers through my heart. i had only just gotten to know her - how could this happen? tears streamed down my face as i saw her eyes looking frantically around her. "am i going to die?" she coughed.

i sucked in a breath. "no-no, i've got you," i kept pressure down on her wound. eventually, neteyam, lo'ak, and spider gathered around her also - jake and neytiri joining us shortly after. jake lifted her back up to see if the bullet had went fully through - it did.

"oh no," he cursed himself. neytiri grsbbed onto her face to reassure her but it was no use as noxta had now because to choke on her own blood. jakes ears frowned at the sound - not daring to look at the sight in front of him.

"oh no, great mother," tsireya cried. "not my cousin," tsireya held onto noxta's legs; praying to eywa that noxta would be okay. but i knew her fate, i had seen this one too many time.

i hated this part of life - the grieving - the yearning for the one you loved after they would pass. i had a feeling this was going to be the worst one yet.

neteyam looked up at me. he was saddened but i could tell he was keeping it together for me. "strong heart," he mouthed to me. i whispered - his words had caused me to burst out into tears; screaming for noxta to be okay. "no, no, no, please great mother!" i cried.

spider sat next to me, his arms around my waist to try his best to hug me in comfort. noxta's hand squeezed onto me tighter. "s'more, i-" she choked and within a second her grip on me loosened and her pupils expended; taking her last breath.

everyone went quiet. "noxta?" i asked - shaking her a bit. i was not going to believe she was actually dead. "noxta?!" i screamed. my wails for her could probably be heard hundreds of miles from here but i didn't care. how could i allow something like this to happen?

"s'more-" neteyam tried to grab onto me to get me away from the situation but i pushed him back. my head fell against noxta's chest - trying my best to search for any type of heart beat.

tsireya cried quietly against her legs - she was trying her best to be strong for everyone else. "lo'ak, where are your sisters?" jake butted in. lo'ak looked around clueless.

"i-i don't know," he stuttered. tsireya shot her head up; ready to defend lo'ak.

"they're on the ship- they are tied up on the ship," tsireya whimpered. she did her best to hold in her cried as she spoke. jake sighed and signaled to neytiri to follow him.

"dad, i want to go with you," lo'ak went to follow. jakes eyes narrowed down to his.

"no, you've done enough," his words were harsh - lo'ak winced at jakes voice.

"i know where they are at," spider jumped up from his spot. him, jake, neytiri then took off toward the ship.

"s'more, let's get you back to the village," neteyam hugged me from behind. my hands lifting up noxta's head - keeping her in my arms.

"no, neteyam-"

"emma." he said sternly. my breath hitched. he had never called me by my real name - so, i knew he was being as serious as he's ever been.

i took in a deep breath. my eyes turned dark as i could feel my body grown cold. i sat up; pushing neteyam off of me in the process. i could feel tsireya's eyes on me as i slowly stood up. "s'more what are you-" but she was cut off when she saw me grab my dagger off of the floor.

"s'more, think before you do anything stupid," neteyam tried to reason but i had blocked everything out of my mind. my main agenda was revenge. i didn't care about anything else - i was going to avenge noxta.

even if it meant getting hurt in the process. i called my ilu over before hopping onto it. "emma, i'm serious. do not," he spit - his hands still over his chest to subside some of the pain.

my eyes met his yellow ones once again. only this time, he couldn't recognize mine - they were red as he remembered. they were glossed over with black. black like my mind had gone - black like my heart.

sure, i knew i wasn't thinking straight but i knew one thing. i had a strong heart and i was going to make sure i put it to use. "i am yours," i murmured to him.

before he could say anything back i took off toward the ship. i didn't look back - if i did, i knew i would change my mind in a heartbeat. soon after, lo'ak decided to join beside me. "sullys stick together," he nodded to me. i smiled at him and returned the nod.

i felt a smirk come onto my face at the fact lo'ak had come to help by my side. my number one priority was to find my father - quaritch, and allow him to meet his match.

i hopped onto the ship - jake and neytiri already being there, trying their best to get kiri and tuk out of his sight. "quaritch!" i interpreted everyone.

they all fell silent as i slowly approached them. i passed in front of neytiri and jake. my eyes locked onto quaritch. "i told you i would come for you," i hissed - pulling my dagger out for him to see. "this is me keeping my promise," i bit my lip as i stood still in front of him.

he had nothing to say to me. so, without another thought i lunged for him.

—
a/n

awwww, yes, kinda obvious she was going to die. i was going to kill neteyam but like this my book so lowkey he don't need to haha

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