𖣘 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙮𝙖𝙡𝙖 𝘼𝙥𝙞 𖣘 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙮𝙖𝙢 𝙎𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𖣘

15.

  Now that the storm season had finally come to a finish, flying and training were unpaused and Lei was beyond excited. Lei wasn't the only Na'vi her age who had been impatiently waiting for this day to arrive.

Lei woke Lahar up bright and early to train for his Iknimaya, this is when a young Na'vi bonds with their ikran for the first time. They must choose the ikran and the ikran must chose them, then the animal will try to kill them.

Most Na'vi in the Nyala Api tribe undergo this practice at ages from 14-16, they're raised to be strong and skillful from a young age. And Lahar's time was approaching quicker and quicker.

Although this is one of the most exciting event's a young Na'vi can experience it is also one of the most dangerous, and Lei was more anxious than Lahar could ever imagine.

"Lahar." Lei shook his shoulder while she stood over his hammock. "Come." She successfully woke him up. Lahar procrastinated getting up and joining his sister.

Lei traveled outside of his room to collect a fruit she had gathered just for him, she returned to Lahar still laying in the hammock. He hid his guilty facial expression behind the back of his hand.

Lei hesitated for a moment before chucking the fruit at him. "Ow!" Lahar yelped, searching for the fruit to throw back.

"Hurry up." Lei rolled her eyes, she fled the room to begin to prepare to train her brother.

She sped her pace up when she realized the long walk that lied ahead of her. The ikran's hanger was located on the far side of the village, exactly opposite of where Lei's hut stood.

"Lei, wait." Lahar's voice rasped, he had just awoken.

"Ew." She scrunched her nose to tease him. "Are you ill?" She ragged him further. Lahar answered her question with a deadpan face.

As they made their way through out the village the sun illuminated the entirety of the land — but leaving shade underneath the treetops.

The siblings finally reached the ikran hanger, Lei began searching for Mazzy. Lahar inspected each one of the ikrans and realized the task that lie ahead of him.

"Lahar?" Lei called out for her brother while he stared.

He lethargically made his way to his sister and mounted the animal after her.

Lei adjusted her windbreaker over her eyes and swiftly took off out of the hanger, she swooped through rocks and other obstacles that stood in her path.

The strong wind current affected Lei's flying abilities, she was repeatedly swerving involuntarily.

"Lei be careful!" Lahar tapped the side of her thigh.

"Hold on." Lei said while she flew over a ledge that held more than 50 undomesticated ikrans.

Lahar listened to the screams and calls of the creatures below, the screech of an ikran is a unique sound.

As Lei searched for a safe place to land she noticed a singular ikran take flight, hastily heading towards the 3.

She suddenly banked to the left, the wind interfered with Mazzy's balance. Lei took an unpredictable route to hopefully lose sight of the ikran.

She glanced over her shoulder to only find the same animal. Her mind could only reminisce to the Lakay'na attacking her and Neteyam, her nerves and sense of vulnerability heightened.

She consistently changed her path of flight to attempt to throw off the chasing banshee — but nothing seemed to discourage the animal.

Lahar reached in a small woven pouch and searched for anything useless to throw at the ikran, he found a small rock.

Impulsive ideas invaded Lahar's mind, he finally made his decision. Lahar suddenly twisted his body so he now partially faced the ikran that was chasing he and his sister, he threw the small rock he had found.

The rock struck the banshee in the face, a scream erupted from the animal. Lei yanked his arm so he now faced forward again. "What did you do?!" She asked while she swerved a hard right, hanging onto Mazzy's reigns with her left hand.

"I —" Lahar looked back to see how the ikran reacted. "Lei LOOK!" Lahar shouted.

Lei swiveled her head forwards but she failed to avoid the large rock ahead of them. Mazzy thankfully reacted and clung harshly to the side of the floating boulder, Lahar was knocked off the back of the banshee due to the impact. Lei instinctively grabbed onto Lahar's forearm and pulled him upwards doggedly.

Lei bared her teeth as she fought to bring Lahar back onto Mazzy's back. She glanced upwards to see the now angered ikran charging at her. Lahar clabbered his way back onto Mazzy's saddle, Mazzy noticed the threat and began to climb onto the top of the rock.

The aggressive ikran crashed into the rock and began to scramble it's way onto the top of the rock. Lei shoved Lahar behind her while she stood next to Mazzy, she took her dagger out of her sheathe and stood in a defensive position.

Lei hissed violently at the banshee while Mazzy stared down her opponent, occasionally making defensive calls. Lahar stood behind Lei as they watched the 2 animals size eachother up. Lahar flinched every time either one of the ikrans made a moment or noise — he felt helpless.

The opposing banshee displayed it's teeth dauntingly, a deafening scream erupting from deep inside the ikran.

Lei's nerves grew more extreme as she awaited the ikran's to brawl, but the strange banshee eventually retreated.

Lei turnt her head to Lahar, they stared at eachother — speechless. "Do not tell mother." Lei finally asked a simple favor of her brother.

Lahar's ridiculous smirk always seemed to make it's way onto his face on a daily basis. "Not funny." Lei ripped away her gaze from her brother, holding in her laughter.

"You are stupid." Lahar snickered at his sister while she eased Mazzy.

"You threw a rock at an ikran." Lei glared at him over her shoulder.

After the two siblings finished bickering, Lei instructed Lahar how to correctly bond to an undomesticated ikran. She hoped he would soon learn how to take these events more seriously.

AN

This chapter is v short bc i realized i hadn't posted in like a few days lol, but i'm starting to write a lo'ak fanfic 😋😋

o and i'm like actively updating and revising past chapters, but nothing is being changed from the past plot