ʙᴀʀʀɪᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ: ᴠᴏʟ. 2 | Jake Sully X Reader (Book 2)

| Chapter 13 |

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Italics: (Na'vi language, Metkayina sign language, and Jake's inner thoughts)
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After that, Lo'ak and Payakan's friendship only strengthened. The boy wanted the Tulkun to know that he could take his time to tell him what happened and he could trust him with it. Payakan assured Lo'ak that the right time will come, but in the meantime, they spent the rest of that morning swimming and cruising through the waters of Three Brothers Rocks, leaving their troubles behind.

Payakan was taking Lo'ak around every corner of the reed that he knew. As the Tulkun swam, Lo'ak hooked his legs onto the front of his fins as he stretched his arms out to the side. The feeling of it was nothing he had ever experienced in his life before. He felt so free, and he loved it. When turning a corner, Lo'ak moved from his position to laying down on Payakan's fin and holding onto the front as they cruised through the lively reefs.

After getting to an area where the ocean floor was a bit deeper, Payakan stayed close to the surface. Upon encountering a school of fish, the Tulkun opened its three-part jaw and took a big group of them inside his mouth. The fish that steered to the side and weren't caught inside Payakan passed right by Lo'ak's face, and the sensation of it made him smile. It was a magical and wonderful experience that he never wanted to forget. He'd seen the reefs back at the village, but the open sea was a whole different story to Lo'ak.

Payakan was feeling relaxed and calm as well, so the Tulkun turned upside down in the water, prompting Lo'ak to turn around too, so now, the boy could raise his hand to where the outside meets the sea and run his hand through gentle ripples of water. Turning back around, Lo'ak hung onto Payakan's fin again, continuing their trek through the water.

Later that morning, Payakan came up to the surface to breathe some air, and Lo'ak took this opportunity to hop onto the Tulkun's back and run back and forth while Payakan swam peacefully and with complete calmness. Lo'ak laughed gleefully as he ran to the back of Tulkun's tail that was paddling back and forth to keep a rhythm and steady pace going.

Lo'ak looked up to the sky, yipping and hooting while hitting his chest with his fists. He had never felt this free before in his life, and there was nothing like it. There were absolutely no responsibilities, expectations, demands, rules, or anything of the sort. It was just him, the ocean, and his new friend, Payakan.

Lo'ak ran back towards the front of Payakan's back, leaping over his blowholes right at the same time as Payakan projected air and water from them. Lo'ak laughed at what his friend did and moved to stand close to the Tulkun's head. "Bro, that's disgusting," Lo'ak chuckled with a smile, making Payakan himself emit a high-pitched sound that the boy perceived as if the Tulkun was laughing along with him.

Getting back into the water and grabbing onto Payakan's fin again, the two began to swim together again with the depths of the ocean just below them. Lo'ak was liking the steady peace they were keeping, but he turned to look Payakan in the eye with a smile. "Faster!" Lo'ak signed underwater, and the Tulkun immediately understood. After that, Payakan did as requested and speeded up by moving its frontal and back fins a lot quicker.

No matter how much fun Lo'ak was having, he was completely unaware of how the speed was making his face look weird because of the acceleration, like his eyes squinting and his lips and cheeks moving every which way. Even so, he continued to have fun and hold on to Payakan as he moved through the currents.

After stopping their journey through the reef, Lo'ak moved to be on Payakan's tail, and just as he had asked the Tulkun, the creature lifted its tail above the water. Lo'ak catapulted onto the water in a cannonball, laughing with adrenaline coursing through him. Payakan was feeling a little more playful now and decided to leap out of the water on his back.