Intertwined [Neteyam x OC]

Chapter 20

Too many, too many things we did together
You used to promise me it would be forever
Feeling like the end, don't think it will get better, baby
- 'Feeling Like The End' by Joji

Aliyah panicked and slapped Neteyam's arm, who was steadying his ilu next to hers. He gave her a questioning look, which quickly turned to concern once he saw the fear in her eyes. She frantically pointed toward the horizon, at the huge approaching ship. 
Neteyam's gaze shifted between her and the ship, speaking between gritted teeth, "Shit! Sky people!"
Aliyah was determined, "We have to help Payakan!" She ordered her ilu to approach the tulkun, calling out to Lo'ak, who had seemed to notice the ship too, as he tried to anxiously pull the beacon out of Payakan's skin. 
Aliyah shouted as she jumped up on Payakan's fin, sliding on his skin toward the large beacon, "Lo'ak! Move over!" Neteyam joined them almost immediately, throwing his body on the tulkun. 

Lo'ak's voice was laced with panic, "Guys, come on! Help me out! Hurry, the ship's coming!"
Neteyam stared at the nearing ship for a second, and Aliyah noticed a change in his demeanor. She always thought of him as a fearless warrior, always coming up with a plan and never letting his emotions get in the way of a battle. But now, looking out at their enemy, he seemed... terrified. However, this glimpse of terror only lasted for a moment, and he quickly regained his composure to help up Ao'nung.
They were now all crouched around the beacon, pulling on it with all their power.
Aliyah let out a frustrated groan, "This thing won't budge!"
Neteyam turned his attention toward Lo'ak, "Call dad! Call dad! Just go, do it!"
Lo'ak seemed to hesitate for a moment but then left room for the others to pull the beacon out and tried to communicate with Jake. 

His voice trembled when he spoke, "Dad... I mean Devil Dog, do you read me?"
Jake's strong voice was heard through the communication device, "Hey, Lo'ak?"
Lo'ak explained the situation as calmly as he could, "Yes! We are with a tulkun who is under attack. Gunship's inbound. It's two clicks out." The others were still using all their effort to rid Payakan of the death mark, but nothing seemed to work.
Aliyah's chest heaved heavily from exhaustion, lowering her voice, locking eyes with her boyfriend, "I don't think we can do this..."
Neteyam placed a hand on the back of her head, pressing his forehead against hers, "We have to keep trying, Ali." His braids swung as his head whipped around to the others, "Come on, all together, again!" Their muscles tensed as they tried to rip out the beacon again.
Meanwhile, Jake was still talking to Lo'ak, "Who's with you?"
Lo'ak replied, "All of us! Ao'nung, Rotxo, and Tsireya too. We're at Three Brother's Rocks."
Jake ordered, "Get to cover and do not engage! Alright? You hear me? Do not engage! We're coming!"
Lo'ak felt a bit of relief at the thought of his parents coming to find them, "Yes, sir!"

Tsireya's eyes were wide with fear as she nervously glanced between the beacon and the ship, "It's getting closer!"
Neteyam took the lead again, "3, 2, 1, pull!"
After another failed attempt, Aliyah got up, "It's no use! We have to find another way!" She wouldn't openly admit it, but she was scared to death at the thought of the Sky people closing in on them. She didn't want to share the same fate as her parents, murdered in cold blood.
Neteyam agreed with his mate, and his eyes suddenly sparked with inspiration, "I've got an idea!" Without further explanation, he dove into the water and mounted his ilu again. He pulled a long, thick piece of rope from one of the ilu's bags and threw it at the oldest Metkayina boy, "Ao'nung!"
Aliyah helped Ao'nung twist the rope tightly around the beacon, while Neteyam made sure to attach it to his ilu. He climbed on the back of the creature, looking back at Aliyah with a determined look. She sighed deeply, nodding to her mate as she shot a tiny smile his way. Neteyam prepared to order his ilu forward, while the others placed themselves around the beacon to help push it out.
Neteyam shouted, "Go!"
Tsireya's voice was panicked, "Everybody, together!" Aliyah looked around at the ship and noticed that smaller but faster boats had left their base and were approaching them at a dangerously increasing speed. She spun her head back to the beacon, "Pull harder!"
Neteyam joined her, still trying to jerk the object out of Payakan's skin using his ilu, "Pull!"

Suddenly, the beacon shot out of the tulkun, causing most of them to fall into the water.
Tuk screamed excitedly, "It came out!"
Kiri pushed Tuk away from the tulkun, "Tuk, go, go!"
Aliyah felt a rush of adrenaline wash over her as she saw Neteyam reeling in the beacon, still attached to the rope. She felt as though her stomach was filled with rocks when she realized his plan. She swam closer to him, "Don't do this, 'Tey!"
Neteyam turned to look at her, "I'll be fine! Go that way, I'll draw them out!" He pointed away from their current position, and most of the group took off in that direction. Aliyah placed a hand on his ilu, trying to get up to join her mate. However, Neteyam stopped her, "No, Ali. I'm not putting you in any more danger."
She scoffed, "I'm not letting you do this alone!"
He shook his head, squeezing her hand gently, "I'm sorry." Before Aliyah could react, he took off on his ilu. She yelled out after him, but she knew he wouldn't come back. 
Kiri's voice burst through, "Ali, let's go!" Aliyah quickly found her ilu and mounted it before following the others away from the incoming boats. Payakan followed Lo'ak's orders and left as well, diving underwater to evade the nearing enemy. 

They made their way to a dense area underwater where plants grew close to each other, creating a bit of cover to hide in. Aliyah couldn't stop thinking about Neteyam, and as she felt the water pulsating around them because of the depth charges, her heart jumped. Unfortunately, she had no time to try and find him, as crab-like submarines were dropped underwater and charged toward them. The group desperately tried to escape the submarines, wading between the thick stems and huge leaves of the plants. They pushed away the leaves hitting them in the face as they picked up their speed since the humans were gaining on them. Aliyah was swimming right next to Tuk and Kiri, who struggled to keep the little girl on the ilu.
Suddenly, a big leaf hit Tuk in the face, causing her to lose her grip on Kiri's hand and surge backward toward the submarine. 
Aliyah's eyes went wide as she shared a quick glance with Kiri, before turning her ilu around, dodging the outstretched claw of the submarine, and rushing toward Tuk. When she found the terrified girl, she jumped off her ilu and grabbed Tuk around her waist, pulling her close to her chest. She used her free arm to pull herself forward through the leaves, swimming up into an air bladder formed by a giant plant.
They both gasped for air as Aliyah inspected the girl for injuries, "It's okay, Tuk! We're okay." The young girl swung her arms around Aliyah, breathing heavily.

They stayed silent as they hugged each other for a moment before someone came bursting through the water. Aliyah instinctively covered Tuk's head but relaxed when she saw it was only Lo'ak.
He sighed in relief, "Tuk! Aliyah!"
Aliyah smiled as she threw her free arm around Lo'ak, "You're okay! Where are the others?"
Right at that moment, Tsireya swam up next to them, a worried look on her face, "It's coming!"
They all glanced at each other and took a deep breath before breaking through the water's surface again. They swam out of the air bubble but were quickly spotted by a submarine, which chased after them relentlessly. They tried escaping it but bumped into other submarines closing in on them from another direction. Aliyah and Tsireya both tugged on Tuk's arms, trying to gain on the machine, but felt the rough edges of a net folding around them. Aliyah and Lo'ak managed to slip out of the net, but Tsireya and Tuk weren't as lucky. Two avatars burst into the water on ikrans, using the animal's claws to grab onto the net and pull it up. Lo'ak held onto the net, while Aliyah noticed her foot was still stuck inside, lifting her up into the air with it. She tried to wiggle her ankle out of the net,  which was cutting roughly into her skin. She screamed out in pain, grabbing a knife to try and cut herself free. 
Lo'ak was also still hanging onto the net, trying to cut Tsireya and Tuk free, "Hang on! Watch out, move your hand!" He used his sharp knife to break the wires of the net, but the net was too strong to be able to cut them loose. 
Aliyah noticed them approaching the ship's deck, "Lo'ak, let go! You can help us later!"
Lo'ak shouted, "No, I'm not leaving you guys! I can do this!"
Aliyah tried pushing the boy off to save him, but couldn't reach him properly with her foot still stuck in the net's holes.

Suddenly, she felt the cold metal of the deck as her back slammed into it, causing the net to fall limp, so she could free herself. Both Lo'ak and Aliyah readied themselves, raising their knife and hissing at their enemies.
An avatar stepped closer to Aliyah, "Drop your weapon, now, girl."
Aliyah squinted her eyes at him, hissing softly, "Make me!" She lunged forward, and the soldier tried moving out of the way but wasn't fast enough, resulting in a nasty cut along his chest.
He screamed, "You bitch! You'll pay for this!" The avatar threw a fist in Aliyah's direction, who dodged it narrowly, kneeing her attacker in the stomach. He folded over, and she landed an elbow between his shoulder blades. The man fell down, and Aliyah heard Lo'ak scream. Her head whipped around in his direction, seeing a soldier roughly push him down with his boot, "Lo'ak!"
Suddenly, she felt the hard stock of a gun collide with the back of her head, making her vision go black for a moment while falling on the cold metallic floor. She felt a boot press her down onto the deck, obstructing her breathing a little.
The same soldier she hurt before spoke through gritted teeth, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, stay down." She felt the man increase the pressure on her back, making her scream out in pain.
Another soldier shouted, "Hey, Carter! Quarritch wants them alive, idiot!"
Aliyah watched helplessly as she saw the soldiers grab both Tuk and Tsireya, who didn't stand a chance against that many people. She yelled out at Tuk, who was still holding onto her knife, "Tuk, drop it! Please!"
Carter laughed viciously, as he tugged on Aliyah's wrists, "You're helpless now, huh?"
Aliyah turned her head around as far as she could, hissing at the man standing on her back, "I swear, I'll kill you, you asshole!"

Then, a familiar voice sounded, "Stop, don't hurt them!" Aliyah saw Spider running on the deck, but he was held back before he could reach them. He turned to Lo'ak, "Bro, are you okay?"
Lo'ak sarcastically replied, "Yeah, great cuz. Never better."
Tuk screamed as she was pushed onto the floor, a soldier forcing her arms together. 
Aliyah panicked, "No, don't hurt her!" She felt Carter's fingers dig into her wrists as struggled to break free.
Spider turned his head toward her, "Aliyah, don't resist, it'll only make it worse!"
Aliyah snarled, "Oh yeah? How about you go tell these dickheads to fuck off!"
Carter whistled, "Oh man, she's feisty! I can't wait to teach her a little lesson called 'manners'."

A man that Aliyah assumed had to be Quarritch dismounted his ikran on the edge of the ship, walking nonchalantly onto the deck.
He pointed at Spider, "Get back to the bridge!" His voice sounded commanding, "Keep him there!"
Quarritch walked over to Lo'ak, who was pulled to his knees in front of him, "Yeah, I remember you... Cuff 'em to the rail, all of them!"
Carter roughly pulled on Aliyah's hair, dragging her over toward the rail at the edge of the ship.
She saw his free hand struggle to try and cuff her wrists, so she took advantage of his moment of vulnerability to turn her head around and sink the sharp edges of her teeth into his hand. 
Carter screamed out, "Ah, you son of a ...!" He punched Aliyah's jaw, making her head collide with the rail, busting her lip open, and hitting her on the eye, which was sure to turn into a nasty bruise. 
Quarritch came over, "What's going on over here? Carter, do your fucking job!" Carter quickly cuffed Aliyah to the rail, making her sigh in defeat.
Aliyah noticed Quarritch inspecting her face, so she faked a smile, which caused her lip to bleed even harder, "Like what you see?"
Quarritch narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you one of Sully's kids too? You look different..."
He pulled on her chin, forcing her to look up at him. She hissed and spit out a bit of blood, which landed on his face. He wiped it off with an amused smile, "Oh, you sure act like one of his."
Lo'ak shouted, "Leave her alone!"
Tuk's scared voice joined him, "Don't hurt her!"
Quarritch laughed, "You may not be his blood, but he'll want you back as well." He turned toward Carter, pointing a threatening finger at him, "Keep an eye on her, don't let her embarrass you again."

Aliyah focused her attention on the others, her gaze softening as she noticed the scared looks on their faces, "Guys, it'll be okay. They'll come for us."
She turned her gaze toward the ocean, mumbling the next words under her breath, "Please, Neteyam, where are you?"

----------------------------------------------------

2362 words

It's getting tense nowww! How did you like this chapter? :) 
I'm liking the idea of splitting these last important scenes up into shorter chapters even more because I get to keep writing for you guys :)

Don't forget to vote, leave a comment, and add this book to your library if you haven't already <3

Lots of love,
Mar xo